


Ghostly Goals

by wheelparty



Series: Traveler [8]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Diary/Journal, Metafiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 19:10:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20711078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheelparty/pseuds/wheelparty
Summary: Welcome to a tale of hauntings. A place of tricks and treats. A story of lost souls, and wandering spirits. An account whose characters are the mischievous, the playful, the terrifyingly adorable, and the downright menacing. Yet they all have one thing in common… And that is… Their Ghostly Goals! Companion story to future story Usurping. Part eight in the Traveler series.





	1. Scary Start

**Welcome to another entry in Traveler! This entry is a different length than other companion stories, since it is longer than a one-shot but being planned to be only nine chapters long. Additionally, the format and the content also differ from other stories, but that will be detailed in the story itself. I will say that this story has major spoilers for all games taking place in Alola, and spoilers for parts of the Traveler series itself. Other than that, I do not own Pokémon, and enjoy!**

* * *

1\. Scary Start

Welcome to a tale of hauntings.

A place of tricks and treats.

A story of lost souls, and wandering spirits.

An account whose characters are the mischievous, the playful, the terrifyingly adorable, and the downright menacing.

Yet they all have one thing in common…

And that is…

Their Ghostly Goals!

And what are these goals exactly?

Well, to spook and scare all opposition, and make it to the top of Pokémon Ultra Moon's Pokémon League.

Every single ghost in existence is invited to this challenge, and they will give it their all.

With a few restrictions, of course.

For starters, all ghosts come from a faraway land called the Pokémon Bank. This means that they will receive more experience in battle, but will have trouble fighting and obeying commands if they receive too much. Almost all ghosts start at level 1.

Starting ghosts also have rules of their own. Ghosts called legendary are still allowed. However, they start at levels higher than 1, and thus can only be traded in once it is ensured they will obey commands. All legendary ghosts are available. The Pokémon called Oricorio, Rotom, Lunala, and Hoopa are allowed, but they must remain in forms that allow them to be Ghost Type for the entirety of the run. Conversely, Arceus and Silvally are not allowed due to the difficulty of trading them over with their respective items. Pokémon that can evolve into Ghost Types are also allowed, even before they evolve. However, I am not allowed to capture any Ghost types other than what I start with or am traded during the run. If a Pokémon capture is mandatory, I must not use that Pokémon.

Pokémon experience has a few rules too. The ghosts won't be fighting wild Pokémon very often, due to already having extra experience gains. Pokémon Refresh and the Experience Share will not be used except in cases of emergency. Poké Pedalgo and Festival Plaza will not be used in this particular file outside of tutorials. There's also an area called the postgame that is not required to be completed, although I may decide to do it if it interests me.

However, the ghosts are not alone in their fight, and may receive help from more corporal sources. Corporal sources such as Pokémon Ultra Sun and Sun. Pokémon Ultra Sun and Sun are completed files that have almost everything. Pokémon may be traded over to these files for things such as the Move Relearner, evolution items, leveling up using Poké Pedalgo, and services from the Festival Plaza.

Most of the ghosts come with the default moves, with a few exceptions. Such exceptions will be pointed out within the playthrough. All of them also have default abilities with random natures. None of them will be bred for better traits, and I do not plan on using EV training unless I have no other option. Customization and photos will not be used for this run.

With all of the rules out of the way, my last explanation is the reason why I'm doing this run. One reason is because this run is called a monotype run, and it's one of the few challenges that I have not completed successfully. Ultra Moon is one of the more difficult games in the series, and Ghost is not a very frequent type, so I figured this would be a decent challenge.

Another has to do with story reasons. Ghostly Goals is part of a series called Traveler. Traveler has a character called the Mold Breaker. The Mold Breaker loves using Ghosts and has a strong bond with them. This character eventually receives a Pokémon called Marshadow, but only after going through a test in which she must navigate areas using Ghost Types. This area may not be Alola and her team may not be exactly the same, as newer games come out or her character wields different Pokémon. However, this run will give me an idea of the types of challenges she will face, what she will be expected to overcome, and how strong a team of ghosts could realistically be. Unlike some of my other logs with Traveler, this log will not be replicated fatefully because of the above reasons. Furthermore, it will not become a story of its own, instead becoming part of a book in the series called Mold Breaker. However, it still covers many important events in that book, and in its protagonist's development. Therefore, it is still considered part of the Traveler series.

Finally, this log will not go into a lot of the story aspects of Ultra Moon. This is because Traveler changes the story of Alola, and the Pokémon universe at large, drastically. Furthermore, I already have some other logs that comment more on the story of the games, so doing it again is fairly repetitive. However, be warned that there will probably still be spoilers for the games inside this log, and maybe even some pertaining to story.

With all this done, it is finally time for the spooky start!

After a few cutscenes, it's finally time to choose the Pokémon to lead with. Although I won't be using this Pokémon, it's still important. The reason is that which Pokémon I choose determines some of the ones that I fight for the rest of the game. There are three choices: Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio. The former two both evolve into Pokémon that ghosts are weak to. However, the latter does not. So in order to fight Popplio and its forms throughout the game, I have to pick Rowlet. As for how this all works, I will explain later. It's also worth noting that Rowlet is not nicknamed, because it's basically the tutorial.

The reason for choosing Rowlet is soon revealed after. There is a Pokémon Trainer called Hau, and he chooses Popplio. Hau is fought many times throughout the game, so I will also be fighting Popplio. Hau will automatically choose whatever starter the player is strong against. Which means that if I had chosen either of the other two, I would've had to constantly do battle against them. That's not particularly something that would have been enjoyable.

Regardless, there's the game's first battle… It's just a tutorial, so it's hardly worth mentioning… Choose some super effective attacks, and I win. Also, I battle against a Spearow… Hardly worth the bother…

It seems I have to head to Iki Festival next, but there's a bunch of Trainers along the way… Other than a lot of Trainers battling me at once, they don't seem to pose much of an issue… There's another battle with Hau, but it's as easy as the last…

Unfortunately, the tutorial still continues, and now I need to head to the south… There are more Trainers there, but they go down without a struggle… At last, I enter the professor's lab, and a new partner is mine…

Well, sort of…

The professor gives me a Rotom, but it doesn't participate in battle. Instead, it heads into the Pokédex, where I can interact with it by answering questions. Continuing to do this forms a bond with Rotom, and then it can unleash helpful and powerful abilities in battle… Some of which that can really turn the tide… So I'll be interacting with it probably just as much as with the regular team, even though I don't have any of those powers now… Fitting that a Rotom becomes a permanent part of the ghostly gang…

Speaking of the ghostly gang, the tutorial is finally over, and I can get my members of my team for real!

Now, the challenge truly starts!

And that is all by getting to the first Pokémon Center.

After a brief explanation of how the Centers work, I'm free to browse my PC.

And that's where I have the first look at the contenders.

The first is Ragged, a Shuppet. He only knows Knock Off, despite being a pure Ghost Type. His evolution is solid, and it can become even stronger with a Mega Evolution. Unfortunately, I can't get that Mega Evolution in this run, so he is passed over.

Next is Greta, a Misdreavus. She has the useful ability in Levitate, and can be evolved easily with a Dusk Stone. She also has a fairly varied moveset and good moves to start. Her set is Growl, Psywave, and Spite. This means she can damage the common Normal Types without being hit by their attacks. That is immensely useful, so on the team she goes.

The third ghost is not so lucky. His name is Sprout, and he's a Gastly. He has Lick and Hypnosis. He is unfortunately Poison and Ghost. His stats are good, and he's immune to one of the most debilitating status effects in the game. But this comes at the cost of being weak to Psychic Types, which ghosts should normally be able to handle. And he doesn't learn much in the way of poisonsous moves. His final evolution is also difficult to get, and I can't even use its full power thanks to Mega Evolution. So I won't be using him…

Jan is next, and she's unfortunately not that useful either… She starts with Constrict and Minimize. As a Driftloon, she's one of the few Ghost and Flying Types in the game, but she's extremely frail and doesn't possess good moves… I might use her if I'm desperate, but I have something else in mind…

That something else isn't poor Forest, though… He's a Phantump, which means his stats aren't the greatest, and his evolution is difficult to obtain. His moveset isn't bad, consisting of Tackle and Confuse Ray. He also has a good Ability that has him healed of status effects when he switches out... Unfortunately, there's not much else to him, and there are better options out there…

One of which is Nicole, an Oricorio. She's the only other option for a flyer, and she learns mostly Flying Type moves. However, she also has a unique move called Revelation Dance that changes Type depending on what Type she is. It's pretty powerful, and since she's currently Ghost, so is the move. It's her only move of that Type though, so I'll be relying on other ones. She also has Pound for neutral damage, but it's much weaker. Seeing as she's better than the other option, she's currently on the team.

The next poor soul isn't, though. She's Inga, a Froslass. She's also the only Pokémon to already be evolved, coming with powerful moves like Powder Snow and Ominous Wind. Unfortunately, she's rather frail, and the Ice Type is fairly weak. She might be an option if I desperately need an Ice Type, but it doesn't seem that way.

Moon, a Duskull, is another one that won't be used. He has Leer and Night Shade. His evolutions are slow, but powerful defensively, with the last one gaining a massive boost in attack. Unfortunately, it takes quite a while to get there, and he isn't anything impressive by himself. So I pass over him.

The next one, Cameron, I don't. He is a Litwick, and he has the ability to completely resist fire attacks, using them to power his own. He comes with two good offensive moves, matching both of his Types. His stats and movepool are both good, so he's a contender. However, there's something else I want to try, so I will just keep him in mind.

Theater is another interesting one. He's a Yamask, which gives him an excellent Ability in Mummy. It also gives some good defensive stats. He has the moves Astonish, Protect, and Disable. Not a bad Pokémon, but something I've used before. I would like a little variety.

Variety like Transparent the Nincada. Transparent is a bit of an interesting gaze as his stats don't really matter. What matters is that he eventually leaves behind a Pokémon called Shedinja. Shedinja is a ghost with only one HP. However, it also has Wonder Guard, allowing it not to be hit by anything that isn't super effective or causing indirect damage. It's a pretty good ability, but it also makes the Pokémon rather frail. And once again, it takes Nincada a while to get there, so not worth it at this time.

There is a Pokémon that is worth it, though. And that is Merry the Spirtomb. She is a combination of Ghost and Dark, which makes her weak only to fairies. She is a bit slow, but has a good moveset, even from the start. She comes with Pursuit, Confuse Ray, Spite, and Shadow Sneak. Not to mention she has fairly good offensive stats. So I will be taking her with me.

A Pokémon I won't be taking with me is Alanna. She's a useful type in Ghost and Steel as a Honedge. She already knows Tackle, Swords Dance, Destiny Bond, and Shadow Sneak. Unfortunately, she's not all that powerful until she reaches her final stage, and it takes a while to get there. Her final stage must also be played strategically, trading offense for defense constantly. So I won't be using her.

There is someone I will be, though. His name is Sinbad. He is a Dhelmise, and is a Grass Type as well as a Ghost Type. His ability, Steelworker, also allows him to do extra damage with Steel Type moves. He already has a fantastic move set in Absorb, Growth, Rapid Spin, and Astonish. So he's going with me.

The next contestant, Abraham, is my favorite species of all time, Mimkyu. He has a fantastic Typing and Ability, along with Swords Dance, Scratch, Astonish, and Copycat. Him joining the team is a given.

The next Pokémon, Mineral, can't say the same. He's a Sableye, with Leer and Scratch. Unfortunately, his stats aren't that great, and he can't get access to his Mega Evolution to make them better. So he's just inferior to Merry,

Sandbox the Sandygast is an interesting choice because he has a good moveset and Typing in Ghost and Ground. He already has Absorb and Harden. Unfortunately, he's very slow despite having good defenses. But seeing as he is the only one of his Type for now, I'll probably consider using him.

The next Pokémon is Valkyrie, a Cubone. She's interesting because she evolves into a Ghost and Fire type, but only in Alola. That form is something I've never used before, so I want to try it out. However, her only move is Growl, so she will need to rely on the others for a while.

That's the full team of six, but there's still a few Pokémon remaining. I suppose I should go over them.

There is Wisp, who is a Rotom. He is an Electric type with Levitate, which is immensely useful. Unfortunately, he is crippled by the loss of his forms, and tends to be mainly supportive. It's already seen in his default moveset: Astonish, Thunder Wave, Thundershock, and Confuse Ray. Useful as he is, I don't need a supporter, so I won't be using him.

The next one is Ruin. He is a Ground and Ghost type with Pound, Astonish, and Defense Curl, and is a Golett. Unfortunately, his Ability makes it so he can't wield items at all, and it takes him a while to evolve. Basically, Sandbox is the better choice.

There's Marlin the Rowlet. There's not much to say about him, seeing as he is the same species as the Pokémon that was used in the tutorial.

The final member is Sally, a Frillish. She gets good defenses and offenses and when she evolves, but that's a ways off, and she's rather frail until then. She currently knows Bubble, Water Sport, and Recover. I'm not interested in using her now, but she is my only Water Type, so she may see use later.

More contestants will join later, but for now that's all them.

Rowlet was level 10 when the tutorial was done, so I'd like to get my six to around there.

Luckily, it's something I find easy, but tedious.

There's a Pokémon called Slowpoke that gives a lot of experience and its only attacking move is Tackle. Since everyone save Valkyrie is a Ghost, Tackle can do no damage, and I can slowly whittle the opponent down. That also allows me to get everyone in the fight, allowing them all to get experience and making training much faster. Since they're all leveled, they gain experience quickly, and become level 6.

After that, it's a chore finding more Slowpokes, and the ghosts level slowly. They can also do much more damage, so it's mostly switching in and out. Regardless, a few more fights, and everyone is at level 8. Greta gains experience faster than the others, so she is at level 9.

Regardless, I gain some new tools for my trouble. Valkyrie finally gets an offensive move in the form of Bone Club, as well as another defensive move in the form of Tail Whip. Merry gets an upgrade with Feint Attack over Pursuit. Nicole gets Growl and Peck. Abraham sees himself using Double Team. Sinbad now has a fantastic move for this point in the game, Mega Drain.

So not too much gameplay, as there is introduction to the Pokémon within and the rules. But next time this run will really kick off, as my Pokémon head toward their ghostly goals.


	2. Class Act

**Welcome back to another chapter of Ghostly Goals! As always, I do not own Pokémon, and enjoy!**

* * *

2\. Class Act

On to another chapter of Ghostly Goals!

In this chapter, the ghosts go to school!

Ghosts in school... That really is a funny image… I could imagine Greta and Merry play pranks, Nicole flying around, Abraham and Valkyrie enjoying the attention, and Sinbad just sitting attentively. And I predict at least one of them would get dragged into the principal's office. Repeatedly.

Someone should draw that… That would be hysterical…

Anyway, it's now time for the ghosts to go to school and to learn how to fight as a team.

So they press on, eager to meet the school's students and test their synergy in battle…

Also worth that right now it's daytime even though I'm playing at night… It's because of the fact that I'm playing Pokémon Moon and time is flipped… I'm not sure how that will translate to the story, if at all, but I'll worry about that later…

Now I have to get to the top of the class!

Of course, I get the Experience Share to help me out, but I'm not using it now. Hopefully, I won't ever have to use it, but I will see.

Valkyrie not being a Ghost Type yet starts to show that she gets hit by a Bonsly's Fail… At least she still wins easily… And going inside gets me a Quick Claw, which is a good item for Sinbad… He gets that immediately…

And now, something happens that will happen for a lot of the game.

The ghosts meet their first Dark Type, a sworn enemy… A lot of Ghosts have weaknesses to Dark Types, so they will have difficulty. The first is Alolan Grimer, who thankfully doesn't have a Dark Type move at this point… He still causes trouble, though, because Nicole's Revelation Dance only does half damage. But at least it's enough… The other battles won't be so easy…

I have Abraham and Merry, who can do neutral damage, but don't have a lot of defenses… Abraham can also do super effective damage, but not for a very long time… I will just have to play carefully every time I encounter one…

And there's also wild Dark Types lurking in the grass… Abraham can take them down with Swords Dance and Scratch, but right now he's the only one… Valkyrie technically can take them down, but she won't be able to do that forever…

And unfortunately, the last trainer has Ekans with Bite… And it's already doing a lot of damage to Sinbad… Merry takes it down, but she's still injured… Luckily, I got some Oran Berries earlier, so I will pass them out to the team… I think I will need them for the final fight here…

Turns out I don't… It's just a Litten using Ember… Nothing that Swords Dance Abraham can't handle, although he does take some damage… It will only get tougher from here, unfortunately…

Also did a few more tutorials, such as the ones for Festival Plaza and Photo Finder… There are side quests involving them, but I won't be doing them. At least there are events in the main story later… It's interesting because this game implies that ghosts like photos, or least react to them… I can just imagine these ghosts reacting… Anyway, time to continue…

Looks like Team Skull is here to mess things up… And they almost do… Poor Merry gets hit by flinch at several times, because my opponent has a Zubat… Thankfully, it goes down to Feint Attack, but it appears this challenge may be harder than I thought…

And that proves to be the case with the next battle, Illima. He uses Normal Types, which is another thing Ghosts hate. Normal Types can't do damage to Ghosts, but Ghosts can't do damage back. That wouldn't be too much of an issue if the foes here also didn't know other types of attacks to hit back with…

Merry can do the most damage with Feint Attack, but Illmia's Yugoos can use Pursuit… He also heals constantly, so simply trying to do damage doesn't work. Eventually, I take that Pokémon down, but there's another, Smeargle. Smeargle has Ember, which not only does decent damage, but also has a chance to burn. Since a lot of my ghosts are currently using physical attacks, burns cripple them… It will get better as I go along, but getting to the star of the class is not easy…

The Trainers here provide experience, and Greta gets Astonish… Weak though it is, at least I can do consistent damage…

There's also a side quest here about tracking down a Meowth that likes to hide in shadows… I could imagine the ghosts finding it easily, but that's not what I'm here for…

What I really want is the cemetery, the first of four… Perhaps the ghosts would be really pleased and feel right at home here, or perhaps they would be surprised… After all, their wild brethren can be found here… And so can a lot of Trainers, with delicious experience…

And they still are difficult, as my next foe is a Normal and Flying Pikipek… Which means it can fight back with Peck so I send in Greta and Psywave… Unfortunately, Greta doesn't have the best defenses, so she gets pretty badly injured... At least Valkyrie gets Headbutt, so she can actually hit flyers…

Speaking of flyers, there's still one the team has trouble with, Murkrow. Abraham switches in, but he takes a hit. He tries to set up Swords Dance, but takes more hits. It takes two of them for the enemy to come crashing to the ground, and Abraham's defenses aren't that high… I need something to cover the weakness to Dark Types, but I don't have that something yet… If I need to do what I think I need to do, then I won't have it for most of the game…

But that's neither here nor there.

In fact, it's getting late…

There's not enough for a chapter, but I will write again on another day.

Perhaps then the ghosts will show everyone who is the top student at school.

After a few days, the ghosts have rested at the berry fields and are finally ready to move on…

Luckily, there's a Pokémon Center nearby… This also activates Roto Loto for the first time.

Roto Loto is a very good ability that works like a slot machine but always gives a reward. Rewards can be anything from things to boost stats in battle, to healing Pokémon, to even boosting friendship and hatching eggs. Roto Loto awards are given when the player answers questions and generally talks to Rotom. If the bond between Rotom and the player is close enough, it will unlock the ultimate ability, which allows the player to use a special Z-move twice in combat. I will explain why this is so good a little while later, but for now I will continue on to the cavern.

Also, I wonder how the ghosts will handle this… Perhaps it's just a magical power the protagonist has for the duration of the test, because she has a high affinity with magic, despite only being able to use conditionally. The ghosts themselves probably wouldn't be interested in a slot machine, the Rotom they have doesn't go into a Pokédex, and the protagonist herself doesn't own that machine. Nor does she ever really own one. Mainly because the ability she has makes it so she doesn't need it, but that's neither here nor there.

Time to continue.

And on the first of the trials.

Unfortunately, this trial contains some of the things ghosts fear most.

Normal Types.

What makes this even worse is that there are also plenty of Dark Types around, thanks to Rattata also being part Dark Type this game…

So I basically begin this journey by going off the deep end.

Not much I can do but go through it.

It is a cave, so Repels are necessary. It also involves finding three Pokémon, and then defeating the leader.

Oh, and some Trainers appear to try and mess the whole thing up, but still fairly simple. There's also a secret weapon near the end, so hopefully it will see me through the day…

Unfortunate, the secret weapon near the end was taken out… It was Brick Break, a powerful fighting Type move… Knowing that the Pokémon here are weak to fighting, it probably made things a bit too easy…

Regardless, all I can do is press on…

Thankfully, despite the enemy Pokémon knowing Dark type attacks, They don't use them… So it's easy wins…

But I'm guessing the boss of the area won't be…

After all, the boss of the area is something called a Totem Pokémon. These creatures are a higher level than normal, and can summon allies to perform devastating combos… In addition, things that would normally prevent a Pokémon from summoning will not work on Totem Pokémon. All Totem Pokémon are surrounded by an aura that amplifies their stats, and that aura remains no matter what happens in the battle. This area's Totem is a fearsome Raticate.

Despite having fought its kind before, it should be a tricky opponent…

And I'm not wrong.

In addition to Raticate actually using Dark Type moves, it also has several other moves. One, Scary Face, lowers speed, crippling any Pokémon that might be faster. Tail Whip lowers defenses, making its attacks hit harder. In addition, the Totem summons Rattata, which come packing Pursuit and Quick Attack. Both of these moves can do massive damage to my team.

And they do.

I start off with Abraham and Swords Dance, but the Totem uses Scary Face… After that, it's a whirlwind of surviving Bites and Pursuits. On top of that, Abraham's already pitiful defense is lowered. And thanks to the high level of the enemies, he can't do much damage back even with Scratch. Before long, Abraham is taken down. Valkyrie comes in, not being weak to the enemies' attacks. It also makes her vulnerable to Quick Attack, however. She's able to defeat the Totem using Bone Club but is left weakened by constant attacks. She misses while aiming for the ally, and is defeated easily. Luckily, Sinbad picks up the slack. Mega Drain becomes very useful here, because even though Bite does a lot of damage, Mega Drain recovers back almost as much. So my foe is defeated, and the battle is won.

The trial was fierce, and that was just the first one…

Luckily, I won't have any disadvantages in the coming trials, at least for while…

And I get my first Z-Crystal! Z-Crystals allow a Pokémon to either perform a very powerful move, or drastically boost their stats. This all depends on the previous move chosen. Typically, there are only allowed once for battle, unless there is a high bond with the Rotom Dex.

So it's easy to see why something like that would be useful to activate more than once.

Most Crystals can be used by any Pokémon, although there are some exceptions. I don't have any of them now, nor will I be getting them for a long time. Right now, the Normal Type Z-Crystal goes on Abraham, because his main move is Normal Type.

Also, finally Brick Break appears. Either I missed it the first time, or it's unavailable until after the Trial. Either way, Valkyrie and Sinbad can both make good use of it. So they learn that immediately.

Moving on, I can explore the north of the island.

There are some trainers here, but also some meadows. Nicole is able to gain some experience, and get Air Cutter. It's much better than what she currently has, even if it's still not the best move. Also, was fighting against Flabebe, and thought I saw a shiny… Thankfully that wasn't the case… On a side note, Greta's defenses are really low even though her attack is pretty good… She gives him getting injured… I should make a note of that… At least she gets an evolution later on…

Merry fights a Furfrou here, and it's a bit annoying considering that Pokémon has fairly high defenses and ability that have any moves that rely on defense… Not to mention as a move that guarantees it will lower attack, and moves that involve defense and attack are all Merry can use right now… Luckily, I still win the fight, and Merry gains Hypnosis for her troubles.

There's another battle with Hau here. There's not really too much to say, other than Sinbad destroyed his entire team using Mega Drain and Astonish… Not to mention that one of the team was a Niobat, which Sinbad is weak to… Maybe this is why ghosts usually aren't found until later in the game…

But then again, there's still issues. I send in Sinbad against Growlithe, but then retreat to Abraham… Unfortunately, Abraham gets burned, and since he can only use physical moves to attack, burns cripple him… Valkyrie heads in, trying to attack with Bone Club. However, she misses and is defeated by Ember. At Nicole finally takes him down…

And there's a trainer that gives out Roost after being defeated. Nicole is the only one that can learn it, but my team needs a healing move. It's actually pretty nice, all things considering. Nicole may not be the best Pokémon stat wise, but her move pool is turning out to be excellent.

Anyway, there's one less thing to do in the island.

And that is the grand trial.

The grand trial has a trainer face a superstrong opponent, and defeating them grants them access to the next island. Each of the people in charge of the Grand Trial specializes in a type, just like the gym leader. So they're more like the traditional gyms of past games, except the trial captains are other puzzles and gym Trainers.

It's a bit odd, but something I can work with.

The first one is Hala, and he uses Fighting Types. Although he does have Pokémon that uses Foresight, the ghost otherwise resist his attacks. Special mention goes to Nicole, who can dish super effective damage on top of it.

I'm not even fighting Hala yet and I get even more powerful moves. Abraham learns Shadow Sneak on the way out of the row, and Sinbad picked up Gyro Ball at some point.

Off to go fight Hala now then.

He doesn't pose a challenge at all, seeing as Nicole defeats his entire team.

That gets me the ability to use Fighting type Z-moves. Luckily, Valkyrie needs the powerup… It also allows Pokémon up to level 35 to obey me even if they were received in trades. Since the game acts like all of my Pokémon were traded, I have to be mindful of this.

But that's not all there is to explore on the island.

With my victory over Hala, I have a chance to get my first Ride Pokémon. Ride Pokémon replace HM moves in the previous games, clearing things in the overworld. They also allow for faster movement speeds, and decreasing wild encounters. This Ride Pokémon, Tauros, replaces rock smash, and can move at two speeds.

Now I can use it to explore island, as there are a few more items left to collect.

But after few minutes, it's off to the next one.

Now that the ghosts at the top of the class, they need to prove that they can do outside of it.

And the first proof is difficult.

Greta takes down a Smoochum easily, but Abraham gets injured by a Glaceon. Even with Swords Dance, Z-boosted power, and shadows stake, the foe still does a lot of damage. Perhaps more training is in order…

Nevertheless, I make through the next route, and onto Panolia, town of cowboys. Now I'm imagining the ghost with cowboy hats… Ghostly cowboys, maybe? I wonder what that would be like.

Anyway, Hau is here, and he's itching for battle.

He is as easy as before, but there's amusing matchup where Abraham goes up against Pikachu. Of course, Mimikyu is by far the better Pokémon, so Swords Dance and Shadow Sneak defeats it. Also, there was an Eevee that stupidly used Baby Doll Eyes against Greta. Greta can only use special moves against it, so it's worthless… I have no idea why Hau decided to do that.

Anyway, I'm off to explore the town, but it's really quite small and there are only a few items.

There is also a battle against an Alolan Rattata, and injures Merry with its Dark type moves. Luckily, Feint Attack does enough damage, even with type disadvantages…

And poor Greta gets destroyed by a Carbink's Rock type moves after increasing its stats. She did weaken it enough for Valkyrie to take over, and that was after it healed once. Oreta is quite useful to the team, despite her weaknesses… I think she will make it up to the end…

And there's a new ride Pokémon, Stoutland. It is the equivalent of the Item Finder, but I don't think I will be using it, because I'm not that good with item finders… There's something in lore that suggests that ghosts are natural item finders… I wonder how that would work out here…

A couple of easy fights, and I'm on to day care center. Not sure how ghosts would react, or how they even breed. I know this is important to the protagonists in the lore, but she might not bring it up here. There is an Eevee Egg, but it obviously won't be used in this run.

What is used in this run is Hidden Power. It's not the strongest move, but it does provide some much-needed coverage. The type depends on the Pokémon, and cannot be changed. Also, currently, there is no way for the type to be Fairy. Perhaps that will change in future games. Anyway, Greta learns it and the type is Ice. Nicole's type is electric.

Also, I found the Amulet Coin. Another thing this run will be needing… Giving it to Greta now… Perhaps Greta helps the group get money… Or maybe she likes money, or maybe she's even wildly and works to use her money for the good of the group… Managing their finances, perhaps? Anyway, that will probably be on her whole game, as is quite useful, and I have a feeling I will need to keep myself stocked with items.

Speaking of being stocked with items, I have to fight Gladion. He leads with what seems to be a Zubat, so it seems that Merry won't have issues.

Except she does, because it's a Zoura.

And it knows Feint Attack.

Even though Merry wins the fight and I heal her with a Potion, she still comes out injured.

More proof that Dark Types are difficult to handle…

This other Pokémon aren't nearly as difficult to handle.

Zubat goes down with an Electric Hidden Power from Nicole.

Null is a bit tougher, able to use Pursuit and do decent damage. I have Abraham prepare his Swords Dance and use his Z-move.

And then Rotom does its ultimate attack.

By granting me another chance to strike.

I waste no time taking it.

By then, Type Null is pretty weakened.

So a few Scratches easily finishes it off.

Fitting, considering Gladion's one of my least favorite characters in the series…

But this is not the place to talk about that.

Rather, I will end this entry here, as the ghosts look forward to times on the water.


	3. Trinity

**Welcome back to another chapter of Ghostly Goals! As always, I do not own Pokémon, and enjoy!**

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3\. Trinity

After some resting near Brooklet Hill, the ghosts to take on the trinity of Types that await them with the second island's leaders! This will be interesting, seeing as there is quite the variety…

But before that, the last few quests in the first island.

One involves finding the lost Pokémon from before. That's easily taken care of. In the next quest, I'm recruited to clean up the area in one of the supermarkets. It gives me a move, Round, that I probably won't use this run. But the quest itself is rather hilarious… I'm wondering how ghosts would clean things like that…

The final quest is one of my favorites. It only takes place at night in the game, and requires solving seven ghost stories around the local school. Doing so reveals the presence of a ghost at the school, who stayed behind to protect it after she died when she was a student. She's also guarded by a Driftloon, but it's unknown if this is actually her Pokémon, or simply a wild one that took a liking to her. Either way, I'm not sure how the ghosts would react. Perhaps they would think the whole thing was stupid, and that they were real ghosts scarier than anything the school could create… Or maybe they would be interested in the mysteries, seeing some kinship with them…

Gameplay wise, there's a battle and some other ghost that can be battled and captured. I choose to beat them, and they are around my level. However, due to ghost a Pokémon having advantages against each other, the battles aren't that difficult.

Now, the first island has completed as far as I can go.

Back to the second.

There's a bit of a difficult battle here against Vullaby and Rufflet. I lead with Sinbad and Valkyrie, which is not the best idea. Both are Flying Types, with Rufflet being Normal and Vullaby being Dark. So I switch into Nicole, but leave Valkyrie in. I hope that a Fighting Type move will be enough to knock Vullaby out.

Unfortunately I'm wrong.

It does barely any damage, and the two birds team up on Valkyrie with Flying Type attacks. I end up having to heal with a Potion, but Nicole's Hidden Power Electric fixes things.

I head to the Pokémon Center, and witness a hilarious event where a Comfrey places flowers in a pool in order to heal people. However, it's hiding from the nurse, and comes out, she lightheartedly scolds it for doing her job. This event only occurs in the morning, and only at this particular Center. After this, Comfrey will heal the party once a day. It's fairly useless, seeing as the Center already heals, but the event is funny…

Not to mention there's another event where someone asks me to find a Corsola and capture it. Even though I'm not using one in this run, I agree to do so, because the money from this event is very useful. Events like these are scattered all around the region, and I intend to do with many of them as I can.

And at last I'll finally at Brooklet Hill, place full of bridges and water. Also a place where I get to fish little later… I wonder how ghosts would go fishing, and I wonder how they would react to the water… I can see Sinbad and maybe Abraham having fun, but the others might be a little apprehensive…

Anyway, regardless of their feelings, it's time to plunge into the trial!

The water trial involves Surfing and inspecting two splashing waves. Only one of the waves will contain a Pokémon required to proceed, but seeing as I need extra experience, I don't mind if I chase both.

And while doing this trial, I found something out.

Wild Wishiwashi are required to progress.

They have Feint Attack.

And they can summon help.

Poor Greta takes a lot of damage…

At least the Dewpider aren't as bad…

And Merry learned Dream Eater, forming a deadly combo with Hypnosis and allowing her to heal herself if the foe is asleep.

And now, it's finally time for the Totem battle.

The Totem here is A, rather than Wishiwashi from the original games. While the latter is defensive, the former is more offensive. It also has a second type: Bug.

And that gives an extra weakness.

Flying.

Even though Araquanid gets a boost in Speed, Nicole still delivers a Flying Z-move before it can even attack. Furthermore, the weather is raining, so Araquanid does a fair amount of damage with Bubble. However, it doesn't even weaken Nicole. The Totem also summons Masquerain, but I doubt it will do much.

Masquerain uses Stun Spore, and Araquanid nearly defeats Nicole with Bubble. However, I have a Full Restore, and quickly use it.

Nicole is weakened next turn, and Air Cutter misses Masquerain, but the Totem is down. The remaining foe tries to use Stun Spore again, but fails. It's taken down next turn. Much easier than the last time… Almost too easy… Perhaps the others will be just the same…

Anyway, time to complete a side quest after getting my next Z-Crystal…

I quickly head back to the first island, accessing another one of its areas. Now that I can Surf, I can explore the ocean there. I still won't be able to explore all of it until later on, but it's useful now. And that is where Corsola is.

Unfortunately, Corsola is a rare find, and it takes a bit to get to it.

However, eventually I do, exploring the seas and growing stronger. None of the Trainers are too hard, but I do need more items. Luckily, I fished up some things that can be sold. So I will sell them when I head back.

The last thing to do is to buy a bunch of items, in order stock up for future fights. Luckily, I have an item that cuts prices in half, so I use it now. These items also include Poké Balls, or rather, the strongest version I can get of them… I get some for any future side quests, and there's at least one Pokémon that I need to capture to progress the run, and it does not come easily…

But that will be for later.

This is only the first of the Trinity, and there's still two more left to find.

But that will probably be in a few days.

The path to the end of the Trinity is long.

So it's been a few days, and I find it the perfect night to play with the ghosts.

Well, I say the night, but it's actually day in game.

Speaking of night, Valkyrie only evolves at night. If it's not night in game, I'm going to have to use Ultra Sun to evolve her.

But that is neither here nor there.

For it is time to move.

Unfortunately, it will not be easy.

The next trainer has a Pokémon called Poipole, and Poipole has high stats.

It's unevolved, but it has stats on par with some evolved Pokémon.

Furthermore, it has some powerful attacks like Venoshock, and Charm to cripple physical attackers…

Which is most of my team…

I lead with Sinbad, but quickly switch out to Valkyrie. Unfortunately, Venoshock does a lot of damage even though Valkyrie resists it… Furthermore, Charm makes it so she can't do much damage back…

I switch out again to Abraham, taking a hit.

However, I'm able to use Swords Dance, and get hit again.

Abraham strikes back again with the Normal Z-Attack, and then tries to take the foe out with Shadow Sneak.

Unfortunately, she doesn't succeed, and the foe heals.

So I have no choice but to strike back with Shadow Sneak.

Abraham gets hit with Venoshocks again and again, nearly being defeated before winning the battle with Shadow Sneak.

That was a close one, and there will be repeated fights… Hopefully I don't have to switch up any members of my team…

But for now, I have to continue moving on…

Also, the ghosts fight in their first Battle Royale. And their only one, considering I don't particularly like that feature. Sinbad takes the helm, but he gets injured by all the Dark Type attacks… Maybe this will make it into the story… But considering the protagonist is an experienced Trainer, maybe not…

Anyway, with the Battle Royale over, my business in the Battle Avenue is done.

Time to play with fire.

The next trial is one of observation. Humans and their Pokémon dance on top of the stage, and I have to make the right choice. Doing so leads to a battle with fire Pokémon.

But there are more than Fire Types here.

Other ghosts wander around as well, and they are poised to cause mischief. Ghosts can hit my Pokémon with super effective attacks, but I can also hit them back.

Here's hoping I can vanquish them before they vanquish me…

The first Ghost is an Alolan Marowak. It gives me trouble, but not in the way I expect.

Poor Greta is send out to battle it, but it uses Flame Wheel to do a lot of damage. On top of that, Flame Wheel leaves Greta with a burn. It's quite annoying, because it prevents her from using Astonish to take advantage of the foe's weaknesses… Greta's physical attack stat isn't that strong though, so it's just as well… I still have to heal up many times to win… I do try to stall the foe with Confuse Ray, but unfortunately it doesn't do anything to help… Thankfully, I do get some free turns in. Marowak idiotically tries to use Bone Club when Ground Type attacks are ineffective… Perhaps the game doesn't ever take into account Levitate…

Also, the enemy does not use Ghost Type moves… Alolan Marowak has trouble learning them, so that may be why…

Regardless, that first battle was no cakewalk… I will have to be on my guard…

The next battle doesn't hold back either… It's against a Magmar, who uses Smokescreen to make Greta's attacks miss… Luckily, I have Feint Attack for that. Unfortunately, Merry gets burned… That leaves another one of my Pokémon crippled… Hopefully I can get to the point where I stopped needing to rely on physical attacks… Perhaps I should have listened to Blaine and brought Burn Heal.

But that is for later, for the time has come…

I face and dance with the fiercest flames, and cement myself as one of the strongest in the region.

For the Totem awaits, and it spares no one in its fury.

For the Totem is another Alolan Marowak.

And this one is much more powerful than its brethren. For one, it's much higher level, on the level of my Pokémon. Furthermore, it gets a boost in Speed, so the only way to count on anything doing damage before it is via Shadow Sneak.

Luckily, I send Greta out, but only as a sacrifice. I immediately heal Merry of her burn, for she is one of the few that can use the fabled Shadow Sneak. Marowak immediately uses Hex to nearly destroy Greta. It then brings forth a Salazzle, a Pokémon known for causing status problems and a lot of damage. I will have to play carefully if I want to beat them both.

I send out Merry, but Totem Marowak happens to use Detect to avoid Shadow Sneak. Torment prevents me from using it again… Another move from both Marowak and the ally, and Merry is gone.

But this is far from over.

Nicole takes flight, trying to hit with Revelation Dance. Unfortunately, Detect activates, and she misses the blow. Thankfully, the Flying Type Z-move does damage, but so does Flame Wheel and Poison Gas. Another hit, and Nicole loses.

Abraham manages to pull off a Swords Dance and Shadow Sneak to weaken the Totem, but it's still not enough as it he falls to their flames.

Valkyrie is my only chance. Sinbad would be just for reviving someone else.

Luckily, the foe makes a grave miscalculation, and tries to Detect against attacks. Valkyrie seizes the opportunity to instead attack its ally, taking it down in one shot.

At last, the Totem is alone, facing off against its unevolved form.

Valkyrie is poisoned, but otherwise healthy.

All she has to do is endure one hit, and attack with a final strike…

After that, the long battle will be over.

Totem Marowak tries its best to fight back with its furious Flame Wheel.

But it is not enough, as Valkyrie beats down with Bone Club.

At last I emerge from the raging flames, bloodied but victorious.

And my reward is to use their power to its fullest extent. Although I cannot use it yet, it will be much appreciated for later on.

But for now it is time to leave for the final member of the trinity.

Her trial is to the north, through a tunnel and a route that leads to the forest. The Trainers here are not too strong, but the wild Pokémon here give good experience. Hopefully, I won't need too much of it… Also, Greta finally learned Hex. It's a decent Ghost Type move that runs off her much higher Special Attack stat, so hopefully it can help her deal damage…

Also decide to do a little training before heading off into the forest. Through this, Sinbad learns Giga Drain.

Now I'm finally ready to head onto the trial.

But I think I will save that for a few days' time.

After all, the coming trial marks the end of the trinity, so it's best not to rush it…

And there's still the Herculean task of defeating their leader…

But all will be in due time.

Now it's due time, and I'm ready to take on the last of the trinity. Hopefully, I can also take on the leader, and clear the second island…

The last of the trinity is Mallow, and her specialty is Grass Types. Her trial involves finding ingredients, and of course, Pokémon, too. It's actually slightly easier here, since the original involved using the game's equivalent of the Item Finder to find the items, and forced the player into battles. Luckily, I don't need the Item Finder now, but as a tradeoff, depending on how well I do, there may be many more battles… And considering how tough the last trial was, I will have to be careful…

I find the ingredients rapidly, and unfortunately there are three Pokémon battles. The Pokémon don't even inflict any damage to mine, so they're not worth mentioning…

What is worth mentioning is the Totem, Lurantis. It's fast, powerful, and has an aura that makes it speed go even higher. Luckily, Nicole has Flying Type moves, so hopefully that will be enough…

Lurantis uses X-Scissor, so that doesn't do much damage. In contrast, the Flying type Z move does a lot of damage. However, the Totem still summons Comfey to its side. It uses a move called Flower Shield that raises the Totem's defense. Luckily, defense doesn't do anything against Air Cutter. The Totem also has Synthesis and heals itself constantly, but that only has five charges. The other attacks don't do much damage

Things are still going smoothly.

Until the Totem summons a Kecleon.

Kecleon is not weak to Flying Type moves, and to make matters worse, it has another move called Ancientpower. Nicole is weak to that move, and quickly gets injured. I immediately heal up. Hopefully I can just outlast the foe. Ancientpower only has five charges, and Kecleon isn't very strong…

And to top it off, Rotom charges up my Z-power again. I immediately use it, and Lurantis is almost defeated. However, Nicole is almost defeated too, taking both a hit from Ancientpower and Lurantis's strongest attack, Solar Blade. Luckily, I still have the means to heal…

And so does my opponent, with Lurantis healing as well. The attacks are so fierce, it's not long before I need to heal again. Luckily, my opponents are injured as well, with the Totem once again near defeat.

But then Kecleon uses Screech, and Solar Blade is physical. To make matters worse, the sun is shining, so it hits instantly.

Nicole is almost gone, but still manages to hang on and finish the Totem with Air Cutter.

Now, all that's left is healing and Kecleon.

Luckily, Kecleon misses a Screech. Since Air Cutter hits both targets, the Normal Type is now changed to Flying.

Which makes it vulnerable to the powerful Revelation Dance.

One hit destroys the foe.

This trial wasn't difficult at all, since all I had to do was find an attack and heal rhythm… Definitely refreshing, considering the last trial…

Anyway, it's off to do some story at the Dimensional Research Lab, and then finally heading off to confront the leader of the trinity. I have to say, I do like the story that goes on here, even though it's fairly short. Not to mention the character featured is one of my favorites…

But after that, I am on my way.

It's time to head into a tunnel and then explore the rest of the island.

However, the tunnel proves more dangerous than I thought.

Some of the wild Pokémon are at my level, which means that Repels won't ward them off. Furthermore, there is a double battle against Team Skull. I try to use Hypnosis with Merry, since both their Pokémon are weak to it. However, she misses a few times and gets injured by Ember and Bite. Luckily, Hau's here as a partner, and his Pokémon takes out a Salandit. The other Pokémon, Ekans, is defeated by Hypnosis and Dream Eater, with Merry regaining almost all her HP back. It's a powerful combo, despite not being able to hit all the time…

Anyway, I'm finally here at Konikoni City, home to the leader of the trinity, and my way of getting off the island. It's one of my favorite towns, and I love the music there…

Not to mention this starts on my favorite sidequests, the Ditto Five. Basically, there are citizens disguised as Ditto, and I have to either capture or defeat them. Doing so will give me some good money and experience, and, if I were playing on a normal run, the ability to catch Ditto much earlier than normal.

Even though the Ditto transform into my own Pokémon, I can just use their own weaknesses against them…

However, what I can't do that against is a Herdier. I try using Valkyrie's Fighting Z-move against it, but thanks to Intimidate, it doesn't really work. I switch into Sindbad, only to get hit by Crunch. I'm nearly defeated, but thankfully another Brick Break takes it out… I have to be careful I don't fall into any more traps like that…

Right after I say that, I accidentally get some of my team injured by a Chinchou… I thought Valkyrie had the advantage, and had her use Bone Club… Unfortunately, she took a Bubble Beam and was nearly killed… I had to switch in Greta because Sindbad was injured from before, and she got injured taking attacks… I need to not be so reckless, because it's only going to get tougher from here…

Also, there's a lot of TMs here… I get them all, but the only thing that happens is Nicole learning Steel Wing. At least there's coverage…

I managed to give most of the experience to Valkyrie from the Ditto Five. Now, she's level 27. This means she is one level away from evolution, but there is a catch. Her evolution only takes place when it's night in the game, and right now it's day. So I have to trade her to Ultra Sun in order to switch the times around.

But there's another catch, and has to do something that was introduced in the Alola. In previous games, Move Reminders can only teach a move if the Pokémon had learned that move at a lower or equivalent level. They could also teach Egg Moves, but only if the Pokémon knew the move at one point. Starting with Pokémon Sun and Moon, they can now teach any of moves Pokémon can learn naturally, regardless of level, and in addition to any Egg Moves it might've learned. Typically, I wouldn't use this feature, as it would give me access to very powerful moves early on and make the game too easy.

With Alolan Marowak, one of its best moves is one it can only learn through the Move Reminder. Furthermore, it learns its other moves very late, and has access to a very limited selection moves naturally. So I'm going to teach to them immediately.

The moves I pick are Shadow Bone, Stomping Tantrum, Will-O'-Wisp, and Flare Blitz. The first two are fairly standard powerful moves of Ghost and Ground Type respectively. The third is a move that can be used to cripple opponents with burns.

The fourth is a special case.

Flare Blitz is a powerful Fire Type move, but it comes with the drawback of doing major damage to the user.

However, upon evolving, Valkyrie gained an ability called Rock Head. This prevents her from doing damage to herself through her own attacks.

And Flare Blitz is one of those attacks.

Which means I can do incredible damage with three Types and no drawbacks. Having her get the Fire Z Crystal seals the deal.

The other downside is that these are about the only four moves she can use, but for now, she's probably the strongest number on the team.

A fitting title for a battle maiden.

But that is enough for now.

The road to the leader of the trinity is long, and there's still a lot I have to do.

So I will continue this in a new chapter, as my journey on the second island comes to an end.


	4. Rise from the Grave

**Welcome back to another chapter of Ghostly Goals! As always, I do not own Pokémon, and enjoy!**

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4\. Risen from the Grave

So the ghosts have retreated, haunting others or otherwise ceasing their mischievous games.

And this period lasted a long time, almost a year.

But now they rise again, more ready than ever to spook and dazzle the world with their tricks and treats.

The reason for their absence has to do with other tales. Ones that were completed before theirs.

One is something called Holly Rising, about a young girl's dangerous journey and the beginning of their series.

Another is one known as Return, chronicling adventures in a Kanto that is very different from one most of the Pokémon training world is familiar with.

The last is Scrapbook, an ancient relic finally unearthed for all to see.

But now with these three completed there is nothing in the way.

Nothing stopping the ghosts from terrifying both friend and foe as they make their way through the Alola region.

So now I make haste to begin again.

And I'm grateful for the Pokédex telling me where I need to go… It's been so long it's hard to remember… I'm in the city where Olivia, the leader of this island is, and I need to make my way to her shop.

But not before I stop and pick up some gifts first. Neither are Pokémon I can use, but at least I remember to get them so I can transfer them to future programs. I feel like I want to write that in somehow… Perhaps the ghosts or the Trainer receive a gift from someone, but since they can't use the Pokémon, I'm not sure what it would be… Perhaps someone does give them other Pokémon anyway, being well-meaning but missing the mark… Or perhaps they just don't know about the challenge…

Also, I just noticed my 3DS clock is a few minutes fast for some reason. I'm not entirely sure why that is… Not to mention that unlike my Switch, my 3DS does not automatically account for daylight savings time, and is sometimes an hour ahead. Since messing with the time could also mess up other things, I leave it as is. Perhaps that manifests as someone being bad at time, or finding an old clock and keeping anyway despite it not working too well. Considering what ghosts are, both situations are believable…

Anyway, it's time to head into town, which I don't think I've explored yet.

There's not much to explore, those I just head over to the shop.

The next destination rapidly becomes Memorial Hill and the Ruins of Life. I wonder how ghosts feel about visiting the places… One honors the dead, and one the living… And ghosts represent both dead and the living, in a way.

Regardless, both the ghosts and I have to keep moving. I can tell I'm out of practice, though… I end up having Abraham use Swords Dance against a Magby with Clear Smog. Clear Smog doesn't do much damage, but resets any stat changes, negating Sword Dance's effects. Not to mention it wastes my Disguise ability… I'm also out of practice with official Pokémon games, due to me having been playing fan creations before I started playing this. The fan creations are very different and more difficult, so I'm constantly on my guard when I don't need to be. Not to mention they often have the Pokémon at higher levels, so it feels really odd having a team in the mid-20s and going for the equivalent of the fourth Badge… Regardless, it's not enough to deter me and I continue.

There is a Comfey that becomes extremely annoying with Sweet Kiss, but I still managed to beat it with Sinbad. Merry wants to learn Ominous Wind, but I don't let her. The move has higher power than Shadow Sneak, but can only be used five times without the use of items. In addition, Spiritomb's speed is very low, so the ability to attack first with a move is extremely helpful. For most situations, it's probably only way I will attack first with her.

Also, Nicole tries to learn Teeter Dance, but I choose not to. Confusion isn't really necessary, given that she already has a wide variety of moves. Also, I hate Sucker Punch… It seems like a lot of things here have it, and since it's a move ghosts are weak to, it does a lot of damage. Additionally, it has priority over other moves, and strikes before them if the opponent has used an attacking move. Since almost all my moves are attacking moves, I get hit with it almost every time it's used…

Anyway, there is a Team Skull Grunt with Raticate. I use Confuse Ray with Greta, thinking it will use Sucker Punch and I can get a hit in and then switch to Abraham without fear of retaliation. Instead, it uses Crunch, and Greta is almost defeated. At least I get the free switch in when the opponent hits itself next turn… Abraham is defeated by two Crunches, despite greatly weakening the Raticate with Swords Dance and Scratch. Merry finally defeats it with Feint Attack, but not before almost going down to two Crunches herself (one of which was critical). I forgot how scary Raticate are with a team like this… I do have a way to counter them in mind, but it's not something I'm going to be able to use for a while…

There is a Wishiwashi in its school form that does a lot of damage to Abraham with Brine. However, Swords Dance and Shadow Sneak still do enough damage for me to win. But that's not even the most important part. Instead, those important part is picking up the TM for Leech Life. It's a powerful Bug Type move that also heals the user, giving Abraham an excellent means of recovery. I rapidly teach it over Double Team.

Looks like a battle with Plumeria awaits. She sends out a Golbat against Merry. Golbat is a thorn in my side with Wing Attack and Confuse Ray. Not to mention Hypnosis misses and all this already leaves Merry injured… I'm afraid to use anyone else, since Golbat almost certainly knows Dark Type attacks, and Merry and Abraham are the only two that currently resist them…

After a barrage of Wing Attacks, missed Hypnosis strikes, and healings, I finally take the thing down with Dream Eater. Salandit goes up against Greta, and Greta uses Confuse Ray. However, Salandit still hits with Flame Burst. It also hits with Poison Gas, but still goes down to Hex and hitting itself. However, the encounter took down about half of Greta's HP. If this is how current encounters are going, I'm dreading what will await me in the future…

For now I must face the last battle on the island, Olivia.

Thankfully, she uses Rock Types, which Sinbad is strong against. She leads with Anorith, something that's weak to Gyro Ball. It's defeated in one hit, but gets off a powerful Bug Bite. The defensive, Midnight form of Lycanroc is sent in, and Sinbad stays. I expect her to go for her Z-move, but instead she defeats Sinbad with Bite. I'm not sure who to send in next, but decide to use Valkyrie, since Will-O'-Wisp can potentially cripple the foe. Lycanroc uses Bite again but still gets hit by Will-O-Wisp. Since all of Lycanroc's attacks are physical, it will do significantly less damage from now on. I also take the opportunity to revive Sinbad, and hope to use Giga Drain to bring the foe to its knees.

Except Olivia heals the burn, and I waste my turn using my Revive on the wrong Pokémon. Honestly, I wish this was something that they took out of future games because I feel like it's really stupid to penalize the player for a misclick, when previous games did not.

Regardless, I revive Sinbad properly, and send in Abraham. Using physical attackers against Lycanroc is pretty risky, because it can learn Counter. However, right now, it's all I have. Counter is ineffective against most of my Pokémon, but I don't want to take the chance that Lycanroc has something else to mitigate it. Swords Dance and Shadow Sneak still do a lot of damage, but Bite does a lot of damage to Abraham. The next turn, she uses her Z-move, destroying him. I try sending in Sinbad, but it's also immediately destroyed with Bite.

I'm running out of options… Perhaps this challenge is not the best…

Anyway, Merry is tossed in, because she resists Bite. However, that attack still does a lot of damage, while Merry still doesn't do a lot with Shadow Sneak. To make matters worse, Olivia heals with a Super Potion, restoring almost all the damage done. I try using Hypnosis, but Lycanroc resists the move with Vital Spirit.

At this point, I decide it's best to just reset and try again later.

Maybe I will have better luck next time.

For me, next time is the next day, and I believe I have a strategy.

I lead with Nicole this time, despite the weakness to rock. She's not going to be doing much in the fight anyway, I need someone other than Sinbad to go against Anorith. Nicole is injured by Smack Down, but fights back with Supersonic Skystrike, taking off half of Anorith's HP. I can then take the hit and send out someone else to finish the job. I send out Abraham, use Disguise to weather a Metal Claw, and take it out with Shadow Sneak.

Her next Pokémon is Lileep, something which I didn't see last time. Furthermore, I can't use Sinbad on it, because it's not weak to Grass. So I stay in with Abraham, knowing I will lose the boosts if I don't. On the flipside, Abraham is one of two Pokémon neutral to Lycanroc, so I may very well lose that advantage if I get injured from Lileep. Regardless, it's a risk I have to take.

I used Leech Life, which does massive damage and strikes first. In addition, Lileep tries to fight back with Giga Drain, but it being a special attack and Mimikyu being good at guarding against those, it doesn't do much damage. Another Leech Life destroys the foe.

Now comes the true test, Lycanroc. I once again stay in for the boosts, but also because I'm hoping to get her to waste her Z-move. Mimikyu doesn't have good defenses, so Abraham will probably go down. But I'd rather have Abraham go down, wasting as much of Olivia's supplies as he can, than have her target someone that is crucial to the strategy I have.

My idea of wasting her Z-move doesn't seem to be going as planned, because Lycanroc uses Bite. Shadow Sneak still does a lot of damage, and using it another time will put Lycanroc at half health at least. That should hopefully be enough to have Olivia waste her healing item, assuming she doesn't more than one. Hopefully, that's the case.

Abraham uses Shadow Sneak to get Lycanroc down to half health, but is defeated by Rock Tomb. Hoping I can enact the second part of my plan, I send out Greta. Unfortunately, my plan doesn't go as well as I thought. Olivia has a Full Heal that she will use once her Pokémon gets hit by a status move. I thought perhaps using Confuse Ray it would trigger the Full Heal, leaving the opponent open to Valkyrie's Will-O-Wisp later on. Unfortunately, Greta doesn't survive a Bite, and thus is unable to use Confuse Ray. I can't send in Valkyrie, because she would have to hit Will-O-Wisp and survive a Bite. Considering Will-O-Wisp has a fair chance of missing and there's a chance of Bite's flinching making me miss my turns (Lycanroc is still faster), that's a risk I'm not willing to take. To make matters worse, Olivia still has her Z-move, which would instantly destroy Valkyrie and probably do massive damage everyone else (assuming they even survived).

So I just decide to try going for broke with Sinbad. Unfortunately, my strategy does not work, because Sinbad is taken down by critical Bite. Merry and Valkyrie are my two other options. I send out the former in hopes of baiting the Z-move while I revive. This still doesn't work, but at least I can fully heal Sinbad. Merry is fortunate enough to survive two Bites, so I heal her, thinking that I can use her to stall and heal someone else. It is then that Olivia finally uses her Z-move. It seems like a stupid choice, considering it would've been nearly useless had I not healed, but at least the move is gone.

Sinbad quickly comes back in, and I'm expecting it to eventually faint again.

However, a miracle happens.

Quick Claw activates, allowing Giga Drain to go first.

On top of that, I got a critical hit.

Meaning Lycanroc is finally down.

At last the battle is over, and I can move on.

But at the same time, I think that's the most planning by far that I've done for an early fight, and a lot of it didn't work out like I expected.

I hope that's not the bad sign of things to come…

Regardless, I earn the next proof of victory, and the ability to train my Pokémon safely up to level 50. I have the ability to use Rock Type Z-moves, but it's unlikely I will ever utilize that power. Additionally, training is not really an option because my Pokémon already gain boosted experience, and going above the level cap will cause them to not listen to my commands in battle. It's not like removing that restriction would help anyway, since I'm having a tough time gaining experience regularly and my only other option is to use the Poké Peldago in my other games. Unfortunately, the latter option is very slow, taking up to two real-life days to see results. So it's not something worth doing.

I could see something like this make its way into the story. Maybe an aggressive Midnight Lycanroc attacks the group, and they barely manage to survive and chase it away… I feel like I could write it like something out of an exceptionally creepy horror story…

My next place is Hano Grand Resort and there's an optional battle with a reporter.

I take the optional battle for the experience, but there's something worth noting.

The Pokémon the reporter uses is called Miltank.

Miltank is one of the few Pokémon that has the ability Scrappy. Scrappy allows any Pokémon with the ability to hit Ghosts with Normal Type moves. And since Miltank's moves are pretty powerful, it can do a lot of damage. This can be the case even if I didn't lose my advantage thanks to Scrappy.

This thing was feared when it was introduced, and for very good reason… I think someone might be getting Whitney flashbacks, Whitney being the gym leader of Goldenrod of Johto with a Miltank as her strongest…

Anyway, I still have to fight it.

Luckily, it doesn't pose much of a challenge. I lead with Sinbad, who has Brick Break. Quick Claw activates again, and Brick Break hits before Miltank can do anything. It tries to use Rollout, but a couple unlucky misses, and it's defeated.

I'm surprised it didn't use any Normal Type attacks. That would've done better and more consistent damage…

Also, shortly after this fight concluded, I lost my Internet and had to reset my Internet modem. It didn't really affect gameplay, but it's a long time since that happened. I had a bad storm pass through my area, so maybe that had something to do with it. I wonder how that will be written in… The serious explanation is that the ghost temporarily lose communication. And then there's the more hilarious explanation that Miltank caused it…

Anyway, I'm given the option to explore the rest of Hano Grand Resort before advancing the story, and I decide to do so. There is a battle against two Oricorio, and I think I can use Nicole's Ability against them with Revelation Dance. However, they quickly turn their Abilities against me, throwing back a double Revelation Dance… Needless to say, Nicole doesn't stand a chance. It's a shame Oricorio is so forgettable and otherwise not very strong… Its Ability can be pretty potent…

In other news, Greta gets injured from the fight, but she does learn Psybeam. It's taught over Psywave, as a much more reliable form of damage. There is also a Trainer with a Trumbeak, who Abraham takes out before it can even attack… Beating her gives me the Metronome, an extremely useful item. I give it to Abraham, as is more reliable than the current Focus Band. There's also a Trainer who wants to see a Z-move. Unfortunately, my current user, Nicole, got taken down. Since I don't want to backtrack all the way to the city, I heal up and face the trainer. One Flying Type Z-move is all it takes. With that, it's time to speak to Faba.

I'm immediately taken to the Aether Foundation. There's not much to do here other than a battle and some story.

If the battle can even be called that.

The battle is against a Pokémon called Nihilego, although the game doesn't mention that's the Pokémon's name at this point. Nihilego receives a stat boost at the beginning of the battle, in addition to receiving further boosts if it knocks out a Pokémon. The player cannot catch this Pokémon at this point, and the battle only lasts three turns. If the player does not knock out Nihilego in three turns, the Pokémon will flee, and the player will lose their chance for experience.

But it's not like Nihilego is very difficult to knock out.

It's double weak to Ground Type moves, and has a low physical defense to boot. Any powerful Ground Type move can knock it out instantly.

I have Valkyrie with Stomping Tantrum, so that's exactly what happens.

I wonder I'm going to write this in, considering the changes to Aether and its role in Traveler. The foundation might not mean much to the ghosts, but the person training them would certainly feel like she had come home … It can also be used to foreshadow something I'm planning to do with Aether in the future, although I doubt the Trainer or the ghosts would understand what it means at the time…

There is a bit more story, and that I'm finally on to the third island.

Except I'm going to leave that for next chapter.

Considering what awaits me there, I have a feeling the third island's journey will not be a short one…


	5. Charm and Thirds

**Welcome to another chapter of Ghostly Goals! As always, I do not own Pokémon, and enjoy!**

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5\. Charm and Thirds

Off to another adventure with the ghosts, where I take on the infamous third island… Before do that though, I quickly need to do something in other games.

And what I need to do is teach Abraham Play Rough. I can do this via transferring him to my completed games and using the Move Relearner. The reason I'm doing this is because Play Rough is Mimikyu's main Fairy Type move, and I need a Fairy Type move for what lies ahead. Unfortunately, Play Rough is normally one of the last moves Mimikyu learns, so in a lot of cases, it comes far too late to be useful. However, since the Move Relearner's services also include teaching moves that a Pokémon has not learned but can learn in a later level, the solution is simple.

In a few minutes, Abraham has the new move over Scratch, and I'm ready to move on.

I've always liked Malie City. It has such pretty music, and there's definitely reminders of Johto.

However, I can't let my guard down. There are still many powerful opponents here.

Like Hau, for instance.

He's stupid enough to waste his Z-move on Abraham and Disguise. Abraham is able to power up with Swords Dance, but when he tries to use Play Rough, the move misses. He gets it by a Bubblebeam, which takes away about half his health. The second Play Rough only takes away about half the opponent's health, with another Bubblebeam destroying him in a critical hit.

After that, I reset.

The next time, Play Rough doesn't miss, and Abraham wins the fight. He does get taken out by a Raichu's Psychic, however.

At that point, Merry comes in. She gets injured by an Electro Ball, but takes the foe down in one critical Feint Attack. Valkyrie squares off against Flareon next. Stomping Tantrum does a lot, but Fire Fang still does damage. To make matters worse, he switches to Noibat, making most of Valkyrie's moves useless. With Abraham down, my only recourse is to switch to Greta. Greta has Hidden Power Ice. With Noibat's double weakness, hopefully it will be enough.

Unfortunately, Noibat has the dreaded Bite, and uses it as soon as I switch in. Another hit almost defeats Greta, but she is able to launch a Hidden Power and defeat it.

Tauros comes out next, being a Pokémon with high attack power, but also a Normal Type. As a result, it's immune to most of my moves. Sinbad has Brick Break, but Tauros automatically lowers its attack power. Still, I opt for the move anyway. However, Tauros has Pursuit, using it to inflict damage. I'm able to inflict some damage with Brick Break, but it's still not that good. Sinbad is extremely weak after that assault, even though it manages to defeat the foe with three Break Breaks. However, his last Pokémon is his injured Flareon, and that Pokémon is defeated by a Stomping Tantrum.

Hau did a lot of damage, and that was just a regular rival fight. It seems I only got a taste of what lies ahead… His Pokémon were also a few levels higher than mine, so I should take the time to train, if possible…

Anyway, time to enter Malie Garden.

With the Experience Share on, I train to levels 30 to 33. I'm now a few levels higher than Hau was, and I hope it will be enough. The experience the wild Pokémon give is wearing thin… I still have a long way to go before my level cap, but also a long way to go before my next increase, so I hope I didn't do too much. There were several moves my team tried to learn, but I didn't keep anything. With my training session over, it's time to move on.

I now am a few levels higher than the Trainers around here, so everything falls easily. I know eventually the game will catch up with me though, and it's not something I'm really looking forward to… Regardless, I keep moving.

Now I'm free to explore the city after talking to Kukui in the garden. The only area I'm interested in (other than those that advance the story) is the Pokémon Gym here. It's clearly optional, and doesn't do much long term, but I know it will be good experience. And in a run like this, I need all the experience I can get.

The Gym doesn't pose much of an issue, other than the Machoke that knows Knock Off. It manages to injure Sinbad, but I regain all my health back with Giga Drain several times. Maybe I really did train too much…

Anyway, time to advance the story and get out of the city!

After doing a few other things, of course.

So as eating lunch, getting some exercise, and playing another game.

Which leads to some to some funny scenarios…

Such as the ghosts enjoying a bunch of bratwurst and vegetables and fruit together.

And then some when they go to work out at a gym. Particularly funny seeing as they were just in one and up against a black belt as the leader…

As for the other game I've been playing, it actually inspired some traits of the current protagonist. I'm also planning to use it in another series in a separate world, but that's neither here nor there.

Because now it's time to focus on this one a bit more.

There's some janitors to the north that mostly use poison Pokémon. Psychic is a good option here, and Merry learns it over Dream Eater. Sinbad also learned Anchor Shot over Astonish.

There is some Grimer and Muk that put up a fight. I'm a bit worried because of their Dark Typing. They end up being fearsome foes because they're fond of Minimize, a move that greatly increases the chance to evade attacks. My luck turns out to be bad as one of them uses Acid Spray on Greta while repeatedly dodging her moves. Acid Spray massively lowers my defenses, allowing subsequent attacks to do more damage. The Muk also uses Poison Fang to badly poison Abraham and Greta. Thankfully, Greta takes the Muk down with Hidden Power and Confuse Ray, although most of the damage is done via confusion. A Grimer also uses Knock Off and Minimize to injure Valkyrie. She manages take it out with Stomping Tantrum, though…

Even with all my training, it seems I still have foes to fear… It's a testament to the run's difficulty and need to strategize. Maybe the ghosts will be afraid of janitors now… Maybe since the janitors are always making sure things are spotless, they always know what's going on with the ghosts' pranks…

After some more battles against being cleaning crews, it's time to head to the south. There, the path to the next trial awaits.

I decide to take a bit of a break though. There's something else I want to finish up too…

And I'm back after doing my something else. I wanted to do some training in one of my other Pokémon games, but it's kind of annoying, and I have to figure out the best way to do it.

With this, I'm now on route 10, in route to the Electric Trial.

There is an Octerilly with Aurora Beam that weakens Sinbad, but I managed to take it out with two Giga Drains. Confusion and Swords Dance also happen to be a deadly combination, with Abraham knocking himself out thanks to a Flaffy using Confuse Ray. There's also a Golbat causing trouble with Poison Fang and Confuse Ray. It nearly knocks out Abraham, but he manages to defeat the foe with Swords Dance and Shadow Sneak.

On a side note, I really hate the birds flying out of trees here… It slows things down considerably… I imagine even ghosts wouldn't like it…

Anyway, time to blast up to the observatory.

I wonder what ghosts riding on a bus would be like…

Considering all the tales of haunted places, I imagine it could be both cute and creepy… I'm also reminded of a commercial for the very first Pokémon games where a bus driver welcomes Pokémon into his vehicle, and then captures them like a Trainer. I always thought that commercial was funny and cool, because he almost turns his bus into something that can capture many Pokémon at once, but a lot of people found it disturbing…

After a break and into another day, there are some battles to the south that I can do. They're nothing special.

Well, except for the last one.

The Trainer is a Z power user, and the Type he uses is Dark.

And he's at my level.

His Pokémon wipe out my entire team. He has an Alolan Persian that uses Screech and Feint Attack to take out almost anything in one hit. In addition, his Absol has the Z-power and the powerful move Night Slash. Abraham tries to go for the Persian, but misses a Swords Dance boosted Play Rough. Sinbad and the others team up to take down the Persian, but there's still a lot of damage and they don't stand a chance against the Absol.

I never thought I would hate Dark Types this much…

Luckily, I have a plan.

Sinbad uses Brick Break against the Persian, weakening it severely. Sinbad is than the one weakened by Faint Attack. My plan goes better than I hoped as Quick Claw activates, taking out the Persian before it can do the same to me.

Absol comes in next, and I leave Sinbad in. There's a chance my foe will waste his Z-move, or I will get in one last desperate attack. Regardless, I can still move onto the next phase of my plan. Sinbad gets taken down by Night Slash, and Abraham comes in. The foe goes on to waste his Z-move while I power up with Swords Dance. Abraham then lands a Play Rough, despite being injured by Night Slash. The battle is won, but it took a bit of planning.

Hopefully, the Trial will not be as merciless.

Given that it's Electric Type, it probably will not be.

But now I must go see for myself.

First I must gather all the Pokémon for the Trial, but it goes easily.

It's quite unlike the last time, where I had trouble finding the last one… I ran all the way down the route before I realized it was at the beginning… But this time I remembered it, so I could see it looking out towards the bus stop in the background when the characters were looking for it. It was actually pretty funny…

Anyway, time to finally do the Trial.

The Pokémon here fall quickly to Abraham, and the puzzles here are still fairly simple.

The third one takes me a while to do, but it's mainly because I always forget I have to line up the Pokémon diagonally and facing a certain direction…

With that, it's time to battle against Totem Togedemaru!

The battle doesn't go as well as I thought, though.

Togedemaru first uses Spiky Shield, negating the Stomping Tantrum Valkyrie uses first turn and doing damage to me. I try to fight back with the Fire Z-move, but Togedemaru avoids it with Bounce. Skarmory is here as well, tossing Torment and Steel Wing at me. I do manage to get a hit Togemaru and take off about half itself, but it restores some with a Sitrus Berry. It also switches to Zip Zap, a current signature move that has a chance of making me flinch and lose my turn. Unfortunately, I get unlucky and that happens.

To make matters worse, Togedemaru is doing quite a bit of damage with that, and there's still Skarmory. I think I've got a lucky break when I get a chance to use my Z-move a second time, but Togedemaru uses Spiky Shield to negate most of the damage… And its partner is still doing damage while this is happening... I can't take it out while the Totem is on the field, so that complicates matters. What complicates matters more is that since Valkyrie is the only one with a Ground Type move, I need to make sure she's always in the battle. Needless to say, there is quite a bit of healing…

I miss a few Stomping Tantrums due to the Totem using Bounce. However, the landing leaves it wide open for another attack, and I finally get in a fully powered Flare Blitz. The first one almost defeats Togedemaru. A second one does defeat it. Now I'm left with Skarmory. A weakness to Fire makes the bird easy pickings. So this Totem battle comes to an end. It was more annoying than difficult, thanks to some bad luck… I am dreading the next one, though…

Speaking of the dreaded, heading back to the garden shows that Guzma is here. I had a lot of trouble with him in a regular playthrough, so I'm not sure how I will fare here. Guzma uses Bugs, with the main Pokémon being a powerful one called Golisopod. The catch to Golisopod's power is that anytime it is below half HP, it will switch out. This does not apply if it comes into the battle with half HP. So the idea I have now is to do enough damage to Golisopod to force it to switch out, and then take care of his other Pokémon.

But doing that is not an easy task.

Golisopod's typing is Bug and Water. This allows it to resist a lot of the weaknesses of both Types, and it has very powerful moves. One of them is First Impression, a move that strikes before most other ones and does a lot of damage if it's the user's first turn in battle. Another one is Razor Shell, a Water move with a high critical hit rate. Golisopod uses this combination of moves to take out Merry, but not before taking a bit of damage from Feint Attack and Shadow Sneak.

I send in Nicole, hoping that she uses the Flying Z-move to drive Golisopod away… It works well, enough to destroy the opponent. However, Golisopod has the move Sucker Punch, and uses it to do a lot of damage to Nicole before she can strike. As a result, she is nearly defeated herself. Guzma's other Pokémon is Masquerain. I leave Nicole in, so she can take the hit from Intimidate. An Air Slash takes her out next turn, and Valkyrie comes in. However, my plan to use Valkyrie for massive damage doesn't work, as Air Slash causes her to flinch and miss her chance to attack. After a couple healings that I soon realize are useless, I just let her go down. Greta has Hidden Power Ice, so I'm hoping it will do enough damage to take out or at least weaken the foe.

Hidden Power does do a lot of damage, but it's not enough. Greta goes down after only getting one hit in. However, it gives me enough time to use a Max Revive, send Valkyrie back in, and defeat the foe with Flare Blitz after taking a hit. Even at his weakest, Guzma still did a lot of damage… Perhaps some more training is in order… It's also interesting because the protagonist of Traveler and Guzma hate each other, so I could see them having an intense battle like this…

It's finally time to move on, but after a lunch break and some other things first…

So, lunch break has passed, everything else is cleaned up, and I am all set to go back to this!

My next destination is to head south of the city, where the most difficult Trial yet will eventually await me…

But first, there are some Trainers on the next route. Some interesting things happen here too. One is that Nicole faces a Lilligant in a double battle. The opponent uses Quiver Dance to boost its stats. However, Nicole is also on the field, and uses the ability Dancer to copy the boosts. An interesting ability if nothing else… There's also someone whose Dedenne is stupid enough to use Thunder Wave right after Nuzzle… Both moves give paralysis, except one is a guarantee and does a little damage… So what my opponent does is mostly useless… There's also a Trainer taught by a Bewear on the route. The aforementioned Pokémon uses Brutal Swing to almost knock out Greta. However, she manages to win with Psychic, earning the TM for Payback. I quickly teach to Sinbad, since at this point is faster than some things. That makes Gyro Ball less useful, so I get rid of it. Valkyrie tries to take out a Hariyama with her Fire Type Z-move, but ends up being taken out by two Knock Offs. However, my Z power is restored, and I use it to have Nicole destroy the opponent the next turn. During my time fighting on the route, my money is doubled thanks to a random Rotom power being used. I'll definitely need every bit of it…

And now, on to the sections of the game with the draft horse Pokémon Mudsdale. Out of all the Ride Pokémon I've seen, this one's one of my favorites. If it wasn't so slow, I'd use it regularly… Regardless, I need to use it to get across the route now.

The battles are the usual suspects, but still have some interesting things. One is a double battle where Abraham and Nicole are together. Abraham uses Sword Dance like usual. However, since Nocole has Dancer, she immediately copies his move. As a result, her physical moves become very powerful. Unfortunately, because she's mainly a special attacker, she never gets to use them… It's also here where I'm reminded the ability Mold Breaker goes through Disguise. My opponent was just a lowly Craindos, so it wasn't really a problem, but I have to keep that in mind for stronger foes…

Regardless, I make my way to Blush Mountain. Other than a very strong Electabuzz that continuously almost defeats Greta, there's not much here. I'm also at the point where Super Potions are not healing all of my team's HP… I will have to switch to Hyper Potions very soon…

There's a rest stop on Route 13, but right now there's only a few side quests that I can't activate. So I just had straight to the Tapu Village, and to the next Center.

After that, I think I will stop here.

Next comes the Trial I am so apprehensive about, so need to be fully prepared…


	6. Mirror Match

6\. Mirror Match

Off to the next adventure! One where I am not sure how it will turn out.

One which will probably involve one of the toughest battles of the entire run.

And yet I must press forward.

Because it will happen either way.

My first order of business is to gather supplies in Tapu Village. Luckily, I have one of the Rotom powers that cuts the price of supplies in half. I quickly use it to get as many supplies I can. In particular, I'm interested in certain things called X items. X items sharply increase a stat, but take a turn to use and wear off when a Pokémon is withdrawn. It's not something I typically buy, but seeing as what's coming up, and what will continue to happen, it's a good idea to get them now. Additionally, I get a lot of every healing item I can, and Max Repels. All this still costs me quite a bit of money, but if I survive the next portion of the game it will be worth it…

The next area I need to go is to the north, as one of the buildings there triggers the next event. There's a couple battles there too, as well as a place to train. The Trainers aren't much, although one does injure Merry with a Shadow Bone. Practice for what will be coming up, although that will be much harder…

Speaking of difficulties, the Trainers in the south pose problems of their own. One of them has a Pyukumuku that uses Pain Split on Greta to make the battle extremely annoying. Pain Spilt is supposed to make HP even, but since I'm the one doing more damage, it typically weakens me along with raising my opponent's HP. By the time Greta finally manages to beat the opponent, she's nearly defeated herself. Once they want is defeated, Innards Out activates. It then causes a double knockout, a rarity in any Pokémon game.

There's another issue as well. Most of the Trainers have predictable water Pokémon, but one of them does not. He's on a lone patch of land and I have to battle him to get a certain item. The Trainer has a Wishcash, which I'm expecting. What I'm not expecting is Nicole to be taken out in one hit by a Scald in the rain. I send in Sinbad, hoping to end the fight with Giga Drain.

Except the Trainer does something else I don't expect.

He switches to a Honchkrow.

Rapidly, I switch to Merry, hoping she will take the hit. Unfortunately, she falls in one strike to a critical Night Slash. My only other recourse is to send in Abraham. I think my opponent will be mostly defenseless as I prepare Swords Dance. But I'm proven wrong as the opponent uses Steel Wing, and turns out to be faster than me. One hit almost takes Abraham out. However, he is still able to use Play Rough to win the fight.

If this is all the Trainers before the Trial are going to be, then the Trial itself will surely be merciless…

Except I have one thing to weather the storm.

And that is the item from before, which I'm finally able to pick up.

It's a TM known as Shadow Ball. Shadow Ball is a powerful special Ghost Type move. For those that use special attacks, it is a massive upgrade.

But it's also important for another reason.

And that reason involves Greta.

She quickly gains the move over Hex.

No sooner has she learned the move is she sent away.

For one purpose.

To evolve.

Like most Pokémon evolving from evolution stones, Greta stops learning moves for the most part after she evolves. Shadow Ball happens to be the last really good move she learns, while the others being able to be learned after evolution are not that important. Normally, Shadow Ball is still quite a few levels away. However, thanks to the TM, she can learn it early and subsequently evolve. Unfortunately, this file does not have the Dusk Stone. However, my other files do, which is why she's rapidly transferred over there.

Within minutes she comes back, fully evolved and ready to go.

Which means I am also ready to face the grueling task that awaits me.

The Ghost Trial.

The Ghost Trial takes place in an old abandoned supermarket. It's meant to be creepy, but I find it hilarious… Just the idea of Pokémon manning the supermarket and doing human tasks (or at least attempting to) is hilarious… Bonus points if they are ghosts, who are known for playing pranks and some of them being curious about the human world… Additionally, many things move around on their own as part of the Trial, so I can just imagine the ghost moving them and thinking no one will see. What makes things even more interesting is that the protagonist (of the overall story, not the game) taking the trial can see ghosts, and would quickly understand what's going on. In addition, when the protagonist sees ghosts, it treated as something very serious, and often, somber. So I have no idea how I would write the tone here… Perhaps the ghosts are trying to get the protagonist to lighten up a little, but considering what's coming, that might not be in her best interest…

Anyway, the Trial of the ghosts is pretty straightforward. It's just following the moving items through the supermarket, taking pictures of ghosts, and defeating them upon their attack. However, I also try to get some experience here. It's a good place for experience, since ghosts are strong against other ones, and that's almost all that inhabits this place. Of course, that means I will be taking a lot of damage back, but there's no penalty for leaving to heal as long as the trial has not truly been started. So there's plenty of time to go get experience without attempting any of the Trial's events…

Except I can't seem to find any Pokémon… The ones that are here for the Trial don't seem to give much experience, so I just decide to head in with what I have.

At last, the fated battle awaits.

Against Totem Mimikyu.

All of Abraham's power… All of his devastating combos destroying opponents… And Disguise's potent power of making opponents waste their moves…

And now…

All of that is being turned against me, and then some…

And I have to beat this foe if I want to progress.

It's known to be a nightmare even on normal runs.

I can't even begin to think of what it will do here.

Because Totem Mimikyu has effectively all of Abraham's advantages, but can do everything he can, if not better. Furthermore, like all Totems, it doesn't fight alone, with the Disguise ensuring it will be able to call for help. Furthermore, Totem Mimikyu has a boost to all of its stats, unlike most Totems who have a boost to only a single stat. And most of Mimikyu's stats are already pretty good, as demonstrated by Abraham time and time again. Worst of all, Mimikyu is fairly fast, and can hit everyone on the team for super effective damage. And that's not even taking all its allies into play… Shadow Sneak can't get around this by striking first, because it has to also get through Disguise and probably won't do much damage because of its low power.

So what am I to do?

My first instinct is to send out Valkyrie. Disguise does not protect against status problems and indirect damage, so I can still cripple it with Will-O-Wisp, and gain the upper hand. Mimikyu is a physical attacker, so Will-O-Wisp can shut it down.

But things don't go as planned.

The Totem has a Lum Berry, allowing it to heal itself of the burn. Furthermore, it calls forth a Banette, destroying any advantage I had over it. Finally, the Totem is faster, so I'm almost taken out with Shadow Claw. One more hit, and my Pokémon is gone. I send in Nicole, hoping she'll be faster. However, that proved not to be the case, as she is taken down in one hit.

My next course of action is to use Merry. Shadow Sneak can move before the foe, allowing me to get rid of Disguise. After that, I will simply use what I am able. Disguise is gone, as predicted, but Merry is also gone because of Play Rough. Abraham gets off a Swords Dance and Shadow Sneak, but falls to Shadow Claw. I send in Sinbad, thinking this is my chance to revive Valkyrie and try my strategy again. Sinbad somehow lives through a Shadow Claw, and I use the chance to revive Abraham as well. However, Valkyrie is slower than both the Totem and the Banette, Being taken out by their combined attacks. Abraham gets off another Swords Dance and Shadow Sneak combo, but it's not enough. Consequently, I lose the match.

But my loss has taught me a strategy I can use to win.

After I reset, I send in Merry. I use Shadow Sneak to break through Disguise right away. Play Rough takes me out as usual, and Banette is called in.

But that's exactly what I want.

Because then I send in Abraham.

Abraham avoids a Will-O-Wisp from Banette and taking a Shadow Claw from the Totem. However, he's able to get a Shadow Sneak in followed by a Swords Dance. This attack scores a critical hit, almost defeating the Totem. Abraham is then defeated next turn.

However, everything is now set in place.

I send in Nicole. But, this time, she's only a decoy. As the Totem defeats her with Shadow Claw, I take the time to fully revive Abraham.

After that, I sent him out again.

With Disguise fully restored.

Another Swords Dance and Shadow Sneak combo, and the Totem is down. With my newly learned Shadow Claw, Banette is quick to follow.

What is perhaps the toughest foe in the game is down quickly with a simple yet deadly strategy. It's all taking advantage of how Disguise works. If the player chooses to switch Mimikyu out against an opponent and Disguise has already been used, Disguise will still be used whenever Mimikyu comes back in. However, if Mimikyu faints is then revived, Disguise will be restored. And considering I had a few Max Revives and many regular ones, it was something I was fully capable of doing. And of course, the enemy being a superpowered a wild Pokémon, there was no way it could do that. So I have the advantage no matter what. It's a fairly inexpensive strategy too, costing me only one Max Revive throughout the entire battle.

What makes this strategy particularly devious is that the game doesn't expect the player to have it yet. The player normally would not be able to catch Mimikyu until after the Trial is cleared, with it being unavailable any other place. So the game is not prepared for the strategy I just used because the player theoretically should not have access to it yet. And as such, it makes weaknesses easy to exploit.

It's one of the many reasons why Mimikyu is my favorite Pokémon, by a landslide.

And the strategy I wound up using was a lot better than the other one I was planning to use. The other strategy being using my newly bought X items and try to overpower and outlast opponents. It would have been a lot more expensive strategy, still coming down to luck. Therefore, I wanted to try the second strategy first, and I'm glad I did. However, the X items still will not be wasted, knowing what will be coming up next. But that will be for another time, as after such a long fight, I need to take a break.

Another day, and I'm ready to continue.

Looks like it's another battle with Plumeria. She sends out Golbat as before, but this time I'm more prepared. Golbat uses Wing Attack, weakening Greta. Psychic does just as much damage back, however.

And this time, I have a way to survive the second hit.

The X items I had before.

Unlike in previous games, X items will increase instead but two stages rather than one. It's a massive boost, allowing someone to turn the tide of battle quickly. That's exactly what I intend to do here.

A single X Defend allows Greta to survive another Wing Attack. I heal up, easily take more hits, and use more of the items to maximize defense. Now, Greta's inability to take physical attacks properly is no longer an issue. But I'm not done yet. My next item I want to use is X special attack, although since that stat is already pretty high, I only use it once. As Golbat flails against me, I take the time to use an X Speed. After all this time, I'm finally ready to attack, and Golbat goes down easily to another Psychic. But there's another thing I'm saving my buffed up stats for. And that is Salazzle. Salazzle usually does a lot of damage, so typically it would be a difficult opponent. But with my fortified stats, that should not be the case. And I'm proven right as Plumeria's second Pokémon goes down in one hit.

X items prove how powerful they are, demolishing even the strongest of foes in a few hits. It's both amazing and terrifying at the same time… And for many Pokémon games, X items were nearly useless… Now, they give a massive boost, and it's a good thing opponents don't use them for the most part… Considering the nature of this run, it won't be the last time X items sway the tide of a battle. In fact, I may as well consider this practice for later…

Anyway, it seems I have to go to Po Town to defeat Team Skull. I'm reminded that the protagonist of the Traveler series uses a certain strategy to tear through Po Town and utterly annihilate their leader… I wonder what the protagonist would think of this, if Po Town even is visited…

Regardless, a healing, a new Ride Pokémon, and I'm off. There is a Mantine that's a tough customer, using Surf to nearly defeat Nicole twice. Thankfully, I have healing items. Nicole has good moves, but defense wise, she can't really keep up… This continues against some Trainers with a pair of Frillish. They consistently use Water Absorb to regain HP from their own friendly fire. In addition, their Surf attacks take out Valkyrie, and severely weaken Nicole. Sinbad can easily take them out with Payback, though.

A few more fights, and I make land on Route 16. After using the Pokémon Center there, it's time to head north to Po Town. Of course, there's a red flower meadow I have to pass through first. The trainers here aren't much of a challenge, but there is one notable one that gives out the item Flame Orb after being defeated. However, he does some pretty stupid things, such as wasting Knock Off and its added damage effect on Disguise… There's also the fact that he tries to use Fake Out directly afterward, completely ignoring the fact that it won't work… Honestly, I don't get this game sometimes…

On to the rainy Route 17, where Team Skull's base lies. There's some Grunts on the way too, but they're not much of an issue. Fitting for a bunch of losers… Or at least that's what I think Team Skull is… I know the game tries to portray them at least a little sympathetically and their fate is tragic, but I feel like it fails on all fronts… Guzma's story debatably succeeded, but even then it's easy to poke holes in… And then there's Nanu, who, while an interesting character, doesn't really have consequences for what he does (or rather, what he doesn't do). I will admit that the atmosphere of Po Town is spot on, though…

Anyway, now I have to go through it.

Another day passes, and it's time to raid the place. There's not really much here, as I have counters for most of the Grunts' Pokémon by now. Well, Merry loses to a Houndour after Embargo prevents me from healing with items when Fire Fang does a lot of damage… I think that's one of the few times I've seen Embargo actually be useful for something, if ever… Also, Nicole has an unlucky run-in with confusion, and is defeated by Shadow Ball… Her move set and typing are fine, but she just isn't that sturdy… Alolan Rattata and Raticate are still issues too, and a pair of them knock out Sinbad.

After going through countless Grunts, it's finally time for a meeting with Guzma.

And with that, a battle.

Golisopod is sent out first, and Nicole along with it. They opponent nearly defeats Nichole with Sucker Punch. However, she survives with 2 HP, nearly defeating Golisopod and forcing it to switch out. Pinsir comes in as a response, and defeats Nichole with Throat Chop. Valkyrie is next, and survives a Throat Chop. I manage to cripple Pinsir and heal next turn.

Valkyrie gets injured by a few Throat Chops, but is able to do massive damage back with Flare Blitz. After healing and taking another attack, the foe is down with a second Flare Blitz. Guzma's badly injured Golisopod is out next, and I send in Merry. Hopefully, Shadow Sneak will do enough damage to take the opponent out before can even attack. Unfortunately, Golisopod lands First Impression, and Merry barely survives. A single Shadow Sneak isn't enough to destroy the foe. A second strike is, however, and, this time, Guzma does not retaliate.

Masquerain is his last Pokémon. I send in Greta to waste the Intimidate, and try to attack with Hidden Power. However, he uses Air Slash, so Greta flinches and I lose my turn. On top of that, Greta is injured, and I'm required to heal. However, I don't, because Greta has already done what she needed to do. She goes down next turn, and I send in Abraham. I try to use Swords Dance and Shadow Claw. However, I only end up flinching, with Abraham being injured. An X Special Defense allows me to heal. A second one allows me to attack twice, defeating the foe with Shadow Claw.

Even though I won, Guzma still did a lot of damage… His Pokémon were a few levels higher than mine, in the low 40s… It looks like I may need to train… I'm aware I could probably blaze through things with the X items. However, it's a fairly expensive solution, requires me to really rely on a single Pokémon, and if that single Pokémon goes down, everything I spent is also gone. There are only a few battles left on the island, so I'd like to finish it up before I start to train, especially since some of the items gotten from completing the island can help with training…

And the 3DS's battery life is just atrocious… It runs out of power after only a little bit of time playing this game… To make matters worse, my charger isn't always nearby because I have a lot of them… It actually ran out of power shortly after the fight, although I saved when I realized it was coming… I try not to let that happen, but my charger hasn't been near as often because I haven't been using my 3DS as much lately… Unfortunately, I heard newer systems are just as bad, if not worse…

Anyway, back to clearing the island. After some more story, there's a battle with Gladion. I send out Abraham against his Golbat, and use Swords Dance. However, he fights back with Acrobatics, a move I know will do a lot of damage. So I use X Defense as soon as Disguise's down. After two of those, it switches to Venoshock, a special move. After that, I use only one X Special Defense. After some healing, I'm finally able to attack and take it down with two Shadow Claws.

Type: Null is next. Or at least, I think it is. It uses Snarl, revealing itself to be a Zoroark. Luckily, it goes down in one hit from Play Rough. Type: Null actually does show up last. It uses Pursuit as I miss a Play Rough, but doesn't do much damage. A second Play Rough takes it down.

With Gladion's defeat comes the last battle on the island.

Nanu.

It's not one I'm looking forward to, considering Nanu specializes in Dark Types, and I still don't have that many counters for them. But if the last battle showed anything, it's that X items make fighting a breeze… Hopefully, I won't have to use them here…

His first Pokémon is Sableye, a Pokémon only weak to Fairy Type. Luckily, Abraham seems like just the ticket. I get off a Swords Dance as Shadow Ball gets rid of Disguise. Play Rough destroys the opponent. Krokorok comes out next, using Intimidate the lower my raised attack stat. Play Rough defeats it in one hit anyway, although Abraham is injured by Earthquake. Nanu's last Pokémon is Alolan Persian. I heal up, just in time to take a Z-move. Healing occurs a second time, and the next move is Dark Pulse. Due to being a special move, it doesn't do nearly as much damage as Earthquake. Persian is nearly defeated by Play Rough, but I'm also nearly defeated by second Dark Pulse. Both Pokémon healed, and then fight again. It's not much of a fight, considering Persian goes down in one hit to Play Rough, though…

And with that, two of the three battles I was dreading are done with little trouble. I'm not sure how the third will go, but thanks to what I can get on the way, I will be much stronger when I finally face it…

Another Z Crystal is mine, but it's not really what I'm after. Now that Nanu is defeated, a few quests have opened up. One of them involves going back to the trial site, and interacting with a Mimikyu there. Doing so will give the player the special Z Crystal for the aforementioned Pokémon. And seeing as my Mimikyu, Abraham, is one of my main fighters, I equip it immediately. Plus, I know it's something I will need for later…

With that of the way, it's time to do some training and a dungeon. However, I will save that for next chapter, as there's been enough high-stakes battles already…


	7. Comeback and Setback

**Welcome to the next chapter of Ghostly Goals! As always, I do not own Pokémon, and enjoy!**

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7\. Comeback and Setback

So it's been a while again since I last did this run.

But that was because I was doing a run of Johto.

A Johto that is far more merciless than the region many are familiar with…

One that contains every known Pokémon at that time, provided the player can find them…

A region where solving all mysteries it is impossible unless one is willing to collect everything…

And most importantly, a region where another story will be told, with another protagonist hoping to bring peace to a ravaged world…

But that story is for another time.

Because now I must focus on this one.

Unfortunately, I am at a dilemma.

My team is having difficulty with enemies, but there's not much in the way of training. Furthermore, my next step is the Aether Paradise, a lengthy dungeon with some of the strongest foes yet and very little in the way of healing…

There are some good training spots beyond there, but I have to clear the place first…

So my best option is to press on, and hope that I will clear the dungeon. At least I can stack up on supplies… Worst case scenario, the run takes a break to level up at the Poké Pedalgo and Festival Plaza in some of the other games.

But I'm hoping I won't have to do that.

So now I just move forward.

Only to get slammed as Greta gets taken down by an Alolan Dugtrio's Sucker Punch. Sinbad steps in (maybe that should be floats in) only to nearly be annihilated by a Sucker Punch himself. He does manage to beat the foe with Brick Break, though.

The next opponent is Toucannon, and Nicole fights back with her Hidden Power Electric. It uses Screech, ensuring the next attack will do more damage. Hidden Power does almost no damage as Drill Peck takes Nicole down in one shot. Merry quickly attacks, using Feint Attack as the foe fights back with Screech. Another Drill Peck destroys her, leaving Valkyrie to take care of things. She takes it down with Flare Blitz, but not before taking a massive amount of damage from Drill Peck.

With that, my choice is made. It's the first Trainer, and without some training, I'm going to be in serious trouble. Either that, or I'll be out of resources with no means to buy more.

So what am I to do?

Head to the places I mentioned before.

The first of those is Poke Pedalgo.

Poke Pedalgo allows Pokémon to train in real time, alongside many other useful functions. All of these functions still continue even when the game is turned off, making it incredibly useful. The amount of time spent training depends on how much currency is used (in the case of the island, Poke Beans) and how much a player wants to train. With a full amount of currency spent on the maximum amount of time training, an entire session takes about 24 to 48 hours real time. During the time spent training on the island, Pokémon will not evolve or learn moves. It's not an issue for me, because none of my moves will be overwritten, and if I need any extra, I have enough Heart Scales to use the Move Relearner.

Festival Plaza is where a player can interact with others online to build certain areas that can train Pokémon and get them items. I'm particularly interested in a few different areas, but I will hold off explaining them for a bit. Due to the way the run works, I may not be able to use these areas until the team hits around level 50, if I even use them at all.

It's also worth noting that my team can only train up to level 65, due to the game considering them traded Pokémon. Any higher at this point, and I risk losing turns in battle due to disobedience. And with a run like this, it's not something I can afford.

With that, the team is stripped of their items and sent to Pokémon Sun. Pokémon Sun has the more developed island with more resources, and is not being used for anything else. So I can continue to collect resources to power the island without worrying about whether these resources should be allocated to other Pokémon. After placing Pokémon on the training island and giving a crate full of island's currency, my team is off to train. I can only hope their training goes well, but I won't know for a few days. It's best to work on other things in the meantime, and think that my efforts here will allow me to enter the final part of the game safely.

A few real life days have passed, and the team has gone through two training sessions. This puts them at level 48 at the lowest, and level 51 at the highest. This might seem a bit excessive, but the final battle in Aether Paradise is in the high 40s. Additionally, the area after this, Poni Island, has a significant level jump. I want to be prepared, and training at the higher levels is difficult. I was incorrect in one thing, finding out that my Pokémon do learn moves while training at the Pelago. Luckily, almost all of them can be re-taught via TMs, and only one requires a Heart Scale. I don't keep any of the new moves except Energy Ball on Sinbad and Dark Pulse on Merry, since they are both straight upgrades from what I had before.

With all of that sorted out, it's time for something else.

Something else that never comes to be.

And that something happens to be a different type of training.

EV training, to be precise.

EV training involves fighting specific type of Pokémon for a different type of experience, called Effort Values. Each time the player's Pokémon defeats an enemy, hidden points are awarded. If enough of these points are collected, the Pokémon stats are raised on screen. How many and what type of points are awarded depends on the Pokémon's defeated. The points typically coincide with what the Pokémon is good at, with evolved forms giving more. Certain items can also influence what points a Pokémon gets, and whether their stats increase. For example, fighting a Pokémon that's fast is likely to grant my Pokémon hidden points in speed. If I get enough of these points, my Pokémon's speed stat increases on screen. However, I could also use an item to give my Pokémon a large amount of points toward speed without battling. Unfortunately, there is a limit on how many items can be used so players can't abuse them. Furthermore, there is a hard limit on how many points can be gathered in a stat and overall (255 for each stat, 510 overall). Once a Pokémon hits that limit, it typically can't gain any more points.

EV training is immensely useful because it allows players to focus on the stats that a Pokémon does well in and increase them even more. Pokémon that fill multiple roles can also be given a specific one via the training. Alternatively, EV training can be used to cover weaknesses, but it's generally not recommended. Instead, the best way to use EV training is to raise up stronger stats and use team members that complement each other to compensate for weaknesses. While EV training is used a lot in competitive battling, it's normally not needed to get through the main story.

Except in runs with many restrictions.

Which this one happens to be.

However, there is a problem. Pokémon gain EVs while fighting required battles in the main story, meaning they can get already maximum stats in the main game before the player has a chance to train them in specific ones. Unfortunately, my Pokémon are some of those.

Luckily, I also have a solution.

The Festival Plaza.

In most games that have them, there is an individual that will reset a Pokémon's Effort Values so that the player can train them in new stats. This game is no exception. And the place to find one of these individuals is in the Festival Plaza. The Festival Plaza also offers services where one can train EVs without battling.

At first, I consider heading there.

But there is one more problem. This one, I can't get around.

The ability to reset EVs only appears if one is lucky with their shops in the place. Unfortunately, I was not lucky, so no individual exists in my Plaza. I do have at least one more game that can also set up a Plaza, but that game is so far behind it's not worth it.

So I suppose I will forego EV training.

But there's one other thing I can do to make my team stronger before returning to the story.

And that involves getting the last few Ghost Type Pokémon.

They are the strongest, a cut above the rest.

For they are the legendary Pokémon.

These Pokémon are Giratina, Hoopa, Lunala, Marshadow, and Blacephalon.

Giratina can come as low as level 45, but can also be found at higher levels. Hoopa is exclusively at level 50, as is Marshadow. Lunala starts off at level 55, and Blacephalon is level 60.

Hoopa is a cute Pokémon with good stats and Typing, but the drawback is it needs to use a form change to get to maximum power. That form change is something I cannot use in the game at the moment, and said form change also loses the Ghost Typing. As a result, I quickly decide not to use Hoopa.

Lunala has the same typing as Hoopa (Psychic/Ghost), but it is much easier to acquire. It also has a form change, but said form change retains the Typing. The form change is also something I can get later on in the game fairly easily without even transferring, and I already have the supplies to do so if I wish. Unlike Hoopa, Lunala is still plenty powerful without the form change, so I may decide to pass it up. The form change runs off the stats of another Pokémon, one that typically wouldn't be applicable to this challenge. But with the form change, said Pokémon is applicable in most cases. Lunala itself has great attacking stats, and an excellent Special Defense. With the form change, these stats can go even higher. So as soon as my team reaches the required level, Lunala will be on it.

The next Pokémon, Giratina, is one that I have used many times before. It boasts a lot of power defensively, and an even more defensive Typing in Dragon and Ghost. On the flipside, it doesn't have much power points for moves, lacks recovery without items, and needs a certain held item to increase its power to the best it can possibly be. Unfortunately, I lack this item in this run, and I can't get it via normal gameplay. This all leads me to make the decision not to use it.

Blacephalon is an interesting Pokémon. It's an Ultra Beast, which means it has the ability Beast Boost. This ability increases that stats every time it knocks out an opponent and the stat increased is based off of its highest. Since Blacephalon excels in Special Attack, this is the stat that will be increased. Blacephalon is Ghost/Fire, boasting impressive attacking stats and speed. To compensate, its defenses are very low, and its moveset via level up isn't anything special. However, it has an interesting array of TM moves, and typically comes too late to be used in a normal playthrough. However, it's still a Pokémon I'd like to use, so it will go on my team as soon as possible. It worth noting that canonically, Ultra Beasts are not legendary Pokémon, but I'd like to consider them as such because they have similar power levels.

Regardless, now I'm onto something that is indisputably a legendary Pokémon and one of the reasons this run even came into existence.

Marshadow.

Marshadow has massive Speed and Attack, with its other stats being at least decent. It's frail defensively, but its signature move, Spectral Thief, allows it to steal any stat boosts the opponent has. It also has a special Z Crystal to power up that move even more, and it's something I can get immediately. All this combined with its fantastic moveset, excellent ability in Technician, and incredible Typing in Ghost/Fighting make it one of the deadliest Pokémon in existence currently. Needless to say, it's going on my team immediately.

But there's another reason why Marshadow is going to be one of the focuses of this run.

Marshadow is what's called an event exclusive, or mythical, Pokémon. These Pokémon often don't get much lore, just being handed out at real-life events. Marshadow got hit particularly hard. All other event Pokémon are at least explored in side materials in most cases. Marshadow didn't even get that. Instead, it was shoehorned into a movie that was a remake of the first few episodes of Pokémon. Additionally, this remake took place in an alternative universe, which means Marshadow's appearances at said movie were not connected to other parts of the Pokémon series at all. Unlike other Pokémon that have appeared in alternate universe movies, Marshadow never got separate appearances within the main timeline of Pokémon. As of this point, most characters don't even acknowledge its existence in any media, even though the players have long since been aware of it.

With the poor Marshadow being tossed aside lore wise, I decided to make my own lore for it. Since Marshadow is a powerful Pokémon of Alola that is rarely seen, I thought it would make sense that people of Alola believe that one can only obtain Marshadow's power by passing an ancient trial of some sort. If one is strong enough during the trial, Marshadow will come to lend the person its aid. If the person is deemed worthy and successfully completes the trial, Marshadow will permanently travel with the person, allowing him or her to use its power forevermore. The protagonist of the Traveler series takes this trial, and her adventures are based off of this log.

So at this point, the protagonist has become strong enough, and Marshadow allies with her. Since Marshadow is an event only Pokémon, it acts as a traded one regardless of the game file, and has no nickname. Since it always acts as a traded Pokémon, it cannot be nicknamed any point. However, this restriction is not in the Traveler series, so in terms of the log and the story corresponding to it, Marshadow will be called Shiloh.

Those who have read some of the other stories in the series may recognize this name, as it is the name of another of that species. The intention is for the two to be the same Pokémon, with the appearance of Shiloh in those stories being after the protagonist has succeeded in the trial. It's also worth noting that in Traveler, Pokémon that have no gender are simply stated to be difficult to tell the gender of, and are assigned a gender just like regular Pokémon. The protagonist has the ability to tell the gender of the Pokémon regardless, and so Shiloh is male despite having no gender in the game. It is the same with Sinbad and anyone else.

There are two other legendary Pokémon that can technically be Ghost type, Arceus and Silvally. However, in order to do so, they are required to hold an item throughout the entire game, and cannot have that item removed. Additionally, the items are not something I can obtain in regular gameplay, and are something I have to trade over with the Pokémon. Unfortunately, I would rather not take that risk, since both are very rare. Furthermore, locking them onto a single item and Type when they have other options cripples them, and I don't want to do that. Since their default Type is Normal, that's what they are considered, and cannot be used.

It's also a noting that if new Ghost Pokémon are released that I want the protagonist to use, she will still use them in the story, but they may not be shown in gameplay. Regardless of how many Ghost Pokémon are released at the time the corresponding story goes up, the trial will still take place in the Alola region due to Marshadow's lore and focus.

With all of the story out of the way, it's time to go to the gameplay.

And that means it's time to put Shiloh on the team.

However, doing so means I must say farewell permanently to someone else.

However, I have someone in mind.

That someone is Nicole.

Nicole has a helpful Typing, but is otherwise very weak. With the legendary and stronger Pokémon now available, there are much better options. So she can do almost nothing else now but fall behind. With that, putting her in the box is an easy choice.

But now that Shiloh's on the team, I have a bit of setup to do.

The first is to give him the moves Ice Punch and Thunder Punch via the Move Tutor from one of my other games. Ice Punch gives me ice power, something that I haven't really had too much of up until this point. It also ensures that Abraham will not be the only Pokémon responsible for destroying dragons, something which will be important later on. The second move is now my only Electric Type one, thanks to Nicole leaving the team. What I do next is give Shiloh his Z Crystal. That's easily done by heading back to the hotel in Heahea City and showing Shiloh to one of its occupants.

The last thing I do is turn on the Experience Share.

There are several reasons for this. One of which is because I know there will be level spikes coming up, and I want to be ready without having to wait several real-life days. This is particularly true if I decide do the postgame. I'm not particularly fond of it and wasn't planning to, but depending on how well the rest of this run goes, I may decide to do it. The second is to make current and remaining battles easier because now the game knows that can have almost every Ghost Type Pokémon in the game, and will know how to combat it. Since I can't do EV training or other Types, I will have to use levels and power to defeat opponents. Finally, this allows my team to level quicker and put the legendary Pokémon in it. With the battles coming up, the power increase is much appreciated. Furthermore, I want to be able to get to a level where I can use the legendary Pokémon in the main game, and without Experience Share, it's extremely difficult to get to that point.

With all of that out of the way, it's finally time to head back to Aether.

After giving them their items, my new team is ready to go. Shiloh's moveset is Spectral Thief, Close Combat, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch. He's holding his species Z-Crystal. With all this, he should be able to do a lot of damage.

Shiloh predictably proves to be devastating, taking down several opposing Pokémon by himself without taking any damage back. I use in the level of my weaker members of bit, but then switch them in so they can get some experience. With the Experience Share on, everyone gets experience, but those that aren't actively fighting only get half. With the team I have and am going to receive, it becomes less about switching in strategically and more about making sure that everyone gets enough experience. So I want to make sure do that as much as I can.

Alas, even though I am quite a few levels higher than my opponents and have a lot of attack power, my weaker members are still weak. Merry gets injured by a Sudowoodo's Rock Slide despite being about 10 levels higher than it. Dark Type moves also still do a lot of damage, even with my fortified levels. It just goes to show that I can't let my guard down, even with all the advantages I have now given myself.

As if to prove this point, Shiloh has a close call. There is a foe with an Alolan Muk, and the Trainer uses an X Defense. This item was one of the ones that help me tougher battles, and now it's being used against me. To make matters worse, Muk knows Screech, an attack that lowers defenses even more. Finally, Shiloh uses Close Combat twice, something that lowers defenses after every use. The worse part about all this is that Shiloh doesn't even have a lot of defense to begin with, and there was no avoiding the opponent's item because I had to switch Merry out. When the foe finally attacks, Shiloh is nearly defeated by single Knock Off. Legendary Pokémon are strong, but not invincible, and this was a grim reminder of that.

Another foe uses an item to increase Special Defense. Luckily, Merry's Dark Pulse scores a critical hit, going straight through the foe's strengthened defenses. Unfortunately the opponent in question is Magneton, and Sturdy prevents me from knocking it out. Merry is it by an Electro Ball, still managing to take the opponent out with Dark Pulse. Discharge injures her as well and a separate fight. She seems to be weaker than the others, but since she is my only option for the Dark Type, I have no choice but to use her… It's also worth noting that due to my high level, I'm not getting as much experience, so it is extremely difficult to get stronger. So now, all I can do is soldier on.

Assuming I even can. I've heard that the Alola games are notoriously difficult to train high-level Pokémon on. With all these setbacks and restrictions I have, I'm finally understanding why.

Still, setbacks won't stop me.

Or at least, I hope they won't.


	8. March Forward

**Welcome to another chapter of Ghostly Goals! As always, I do not own Pokémon, and enjoy!**

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8\. March Forward

A new day has come, and time to continue storming Aether. Hopefully, it won't give me as much trouble as the last two times…

And it doesn't seem to, for the most part. Shiloh gets a little unlucky, taking critical hits and getting weakened do a double battle. He also gets hit by Static, forcing me to use a Full Restore. The next battle is against Faba, and he's a Psychic Type specialist fighting alongside a regular person. I think it will be easy, and for the most part I am right. I once again lead with Shiloh, but he gets unlucky for different reasons. I am doing the battle with Hau, and he has Alolan Raichu. Faba's first Pokémon is taken out by Shiloh's Z move, and the other Pokémon on the field, Ledian, uses Reflect. Raichu almost takes out Ledian, and I expect it to go for Faba's second Pokémon, Bruxish. With that in mind, I go for Ice Punch, intending to destroy Ledian. Unfortunately, Raichu goes for Quick Attack, and Ledian is defeated. Consequently, Bruxish uses Psychic Fangs on Shiloh, destroying him in a single strike.

With ghosts usually being strong against Psychic, it's difficult to remember that Marshadow's secondary Fighting Type makes it weak to them… But other than the above mishaps, it's been great tearing through my opponents' Pokémon… It's a shame Marshadow is not available earlier, because Shiloh is really fun to use… Then again, considering how strong it is, it makes sense why the former doesn't happen…

Also, my 3DS ran out of power again… I will be playing, it will suddenly go into the red, and I won't notice until it's too late… At least I have enough time to save before that happens… The power problems are almost becoming a running gag by this point… I wonder if I can work that into the story somehow… Maybe a Rotom that keeps track of the protagonist's progress has power problems with the Dex or connections… Or maybe it annoys her some other way… It would make a lot of sense, considering the Rotom Dex is meant to guide new players through the game, and provide benefits if they use its services. However, since the protagonist is experienced, she would probably find that annoying, even if it is useful…

Anyway, I head deeper in, with Shiloh still leading. There is team Skull Grunts, but thanks to Shiloh's Fighting Type, they are easily taken care of.

And now it's time for their boss, Guzma.

Now's the time to get payback for all the trouble he caused me…

And it starts with having Shiloh destroy his Golisopod.

Or rather, get close.

Two Thunder Punches weakens the foe, enough to force Golisopod to retreat. However, Shiloh's also weakened by a Razor Shell, and Masquerain is sent out next. Not wanting to have my weaknesses exploited, I switch to Greta. Greta takes an Air Slash on the switch in. However, she fights back with Hidden Power Ice. This weakens Masquerain, but it gets an Icy Wind, lowering Greta's speed. Air Slash nearly defeats her, but she takes of the foe with another Hidden Power.

Valkyrie comes out against the next opponent, Pinsir. She tries to beat it back with Inferno Overdrive, but gets attacked by Stone Edge. Thankfully, the attack just weakens her, and the foe is taken down one hit. Golisopod comes back out, but Shiloh finishes the job. Guzma's last Pokémon is Vikavolt. Since I'm not sure what it will do and don't have many direct counters, I send in Abraham. Turns out it has Flash Cannon, but Abraham is able to get in a Swords Dance. Shadow Claw weakens the opponent, and a second Flash Cannon does damage. However, it doesn't even weaken Abraham, allowing Guzma to be finished off next turn. So he is still a tougher opponent, but nowhere near as ferocious as before… Thankfully, I believe this is the last time I have to fight him…

Also, the Ultra Recon show up with their Poipole. There's not much worth mentioning, other than, the opponent, Soliera, using an X Special Defense and a Hyper Potion. Other than that, a few Psychic attacks from Greta takes it down. Interestingly, the protagonist of Traveler eventually receives a Poipole from Soliera, so maybe this could be the same one… The game at least confirms the one the player gets is the same. But the one the protagonist of Traveler gets is shiny, being based off of a real-life event. When Poipole is seen as an opponent, it can never be shiny. So, that would make things a bit odd… Not to mention being shiny would attract a lot of attention, but I suppose that's why the Ultra Recon Squad have it later…

Anyway, it's finally time to commence the final fight of this place: Lusamine. Lusamine is considered to be one of the toughest opponents in the game, someone would say the entire series. Therefore, I'm expecting a challenge.

Her first Pokémon is Clefable, and unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of attacks against Fairy Types. The closest I have is Sinbad, whose Ability allows the gain extra power from Steel Type attacks. These Steel Type attack it does have can do a lot of damage, so I have to hope it is enough. Luckily, that proves to be the case, as Anchor Shot takes out the foe in one hit. Clefable still manages to use Moonblast to do quite a bit damage, but it's not enough to weaken me.

The next opponent is Lopunny, and I quickly send out Shiloh. Close Combat is all it takes, and the foe is gone. Sinbad also learns Phantom Force, a powerful Ghost Type physical attack that quickly replaces the much weaker Dark Type move Payback. After that, the next foe is Bewear. Although Shiloh could have the advantage, Bewear also has an Ability that halves the damage from all physical moves. Unfortunately, this is all Shiloh has. Luckily, this Ability also gives Bewear a weakness to fire, so I switch into Valkyrie. Bewear misses a Zen Headbutt, and is taken out by one Inferno Overdrive.

Lusamine responds by sending out Milotic. Shiloh is brought out again, weakening Milotic with Thunder Punch. It uses Icy Wind to lower Shiloh's speed, but it barely does any damage. Another Thunder Punch is quick to defeat it. The last Pokémon is Lilligant, and I send out Sinbad in response. The foe tries using Teeter Dance, but it ends up not doing a thing as it's almost taken out by Phantom Force. Quick Claw activates after that, and Brick Break finishes the job. I guess there wasn't a challenge after all. However, I did gain a lot of levels in preparation for this fight, so it makes sense…

On a side note, it's a shame that the second Lusamine fight in the main story never occurs… That was a challenging, interesting, and intense fight. Given the circumstances that have to happen in order for that fight to occur, it makes sense why it's not here. But it still would be interesting if it could happen somehow, and it would provide a very good match. Unfortunately, something like this never happens. To be fair, Lusamine can have a second match after the game is cleared, but it's random, completely optional, and can be difficult to get… Not to mention there were little additions in her original second fight that made it different and more difficult from what one would typically find… So even though another chance to battle Lusamine exists, it's still not the same…

Anyway, with Lusamine defeated, there's still a bit more preparation I have to do before moving forward. One is to use my remaining Rare Candies on Merry. She was falling behind a bit, but is still a team mainstay. I need her to be as strong as she can. I also need the added strength for something coming up.

And that something is Lunala joining the team. My team is finally strong enough to have it join and contribute right away, and I will gladly take the power. However, that also means I must leave someone behind permanently.

And that someone is Greta.

Unlike the others, Greta is a pure Ghost, which means that she doesn't have a secondary typing that can help balance out the team. Additionally, other than the ability to mostly be immune to Ground Type moves, she doesn't bring anything special to the team. Lunala can take up her role of absorbing special attacks, and has better stats that allow it to play even more roles. Additionally, it can get even stronger, when Greta really can't. Lunala has the Psychic Type, allowing the team to more successfully fight back against different kinds of Pokémon, especially when having a newfound weakness to other Psychic Types. With Merry and Shiloh covering the Types Greta uses, there's really no need for her anymore.

And so, after heading back a bit, Greta leaves the team, and Lunala enters. It's worth noting that in the Traveler series, Lunala is exclusively female. So this log will refer to my Lunala as such. Her name is Mongolia, and as stated before, she is currently level 55. I teach her Psychic, but leave the rest of her moves alone for now. So Mongolia's moves are Moongeist Beam, Cosmic Power, Night Daze, and Psychic. She is holding Greta's Amulet Coin.

Also, Gladion gives me a Master Ball. I honestly forgot he did this, and I thought it only took place after a certain event… It will make something coming later easier, at least…

At last, the fourth island has opened up. With the fourth island comes the last few places in the game. But I will save them for later. The fourth island is not easy, and I need to be at my best.

A new day has come, and I'm ready for the fourth island! Interestingly, I've taken to keeping a journal of things that happened to me in real life and how I feel about them. What makes this interesting is that the protagonist of Traveler also keeps a journal eventually of the same things, although because her journal is an actual story, it's in story form.

Mine isn't really in story form, but something about it might seep into stories somehow. The journal the protagonist keeps was intended to be used long before I actually started journaling. I tried journaling when I was younger, but it was difficult to make a habit of it, and writing stories seem to suffice, even if what was in the stories didn't happen real life. So I quickly dropped the habit. Hopefully I can keep it now, though. It helps that I know more about technology and have better options in order to make it practical. The fact that I'm trying to use it to help manage a real life medical condition is an extra source of motivation…

Just like me when I was younger, the protagonist of Traveler originally doesn't see much point in journaling, at least until the period where she keeps the journals that turn into stories comes up. Although, I don't think the protagonist's journal will be in journal form, simply because the change in writing would be a bit jarring (and especially since there is a work that almost serves as a diary of Traveler up already). It would probably be she'd be writing it as if she was writing a story, and someone would notice she was unconsciously journaling, which is similar to how most people who know me a bit more personally reacted to my stories in real life. Interestingly, in the very early days several years ago, the protagonist of Traveler did keep a diary fatefully and some of her chapters were written in diary format. At the time it was something I imagined myself doing, but that never came to be…

Yet enough about that, on to the gameplay!

So Poni Island is a bit smaller than the other islands, simply because a lot of isn't accessed until the main game is cleared. Unfortunately, it's likely that this run will not see that. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in tough opponents. Being ready for plenty of battles is crucial. It's worth noting that some of the most powerful items in the game are also here, so there's plenty of places for supplies.

Starting with TMs. There's a whole shop of them here, and thanks to the Roto Bargin power halving shop prices, I can get most of them for a decent price. I rapidly teach Thunder over Cosmic Power for Mongolia. I don't have any special Electric Type moves otherwise.

Now then, the first place in Poni awaits!

The wild Pokémon are mostly fully evolved, and around the same level as the Trainers in Aether. I decide to take Mongolia for a test drive against them, giving her and a few others a level. Mongolia does well, with her high stats and good moveset. However, I don't know how she will do against the Trainers around here, or even in the battles ahead.

Also, I get careless and think I can win against a Trainer using Toxic and Project without healing the status condition… As a result, poor Abraham faints. It's been so long since I've seen that combo I forgot how deadly it is…

There's also a Sharpedo that nearly defeats Sinbad with Night Slash… Dark Types will always be the enemy of this run, it seems… Also, I forget that Shiloh is weak to Flying Types… I send him against an Oricorio Trainer, only for him to get destroyed by Air Slash after taking out two other Pokémon… I also forget how powerful Revelation Dance is, with Nicole off the team. As a result, Mongolia gets injured while trying to finish the match… It's a bit of a tough time getting used to my new team members, but they will grow into their own eventually…

The next area is the Ancient Poni Path. There's the equivalent of Strength here, but other than that, not much exists. The next area at least is a few Trainers, though… It's called Poni Breaker Coast, and I've always found it beautiful. I wonder if it was based off of Hawaii's volcanic areas, seeing as it has black soil and seems to be rather mountainous… It's almost a straight shot, so it's not long before I'm on to the next area. There's not much other than a cutscene and a field move tutorial, though… Although the cutscene is one of my favorites…

And off to one of my favorite places, the uninhabited island where the story relevant item resides! To be fair, I don't really care about the story item that much, but I always found the idea of an old trial site inhabited by only Pokémon interesting. It would be cool to have Traveler expand on that, but currently I have no idea how…

The trip there is short and uneventful, and before long, I bid the island farewell. However, I know what's coming up next will be anything but short and uneventful.

For the next area is Vast Poni Canyon.

Vast Poni Canyon serves a similar function to Victory Road, and holds one of the Trials. There is a proper Victory Road now, but it's still a fierce place. I need to be properly prepared before I go. After some Max Repels, some Max Potions, and a few Escape Ropes, I am ready to enter. A few Team Skull grunts stand as my first test, but Shiloh easily knocks them aside. The Ultra Recon Squad comes too, but the same thing happens.

After that lies the real test.

A dark, ominous, cave stands as the dungeon's entrance.

And the beginning of the end of my journey.

Most of the Vast Poni Canyon is one giant cave, with tall grass scattered all around in outside areas. This is why I brought Max Repels with me, since the cave is much more tedious otherwise. Knowing the high encounter rate and the powerful Pokémon within, I will keep them on me the entire time.

The journey starts off simple, with Shiloh wiping the floor with everyone. That is, until he starts running out of Power Points and I have to switch to Mongolia. Sinbad also learns Power Whip here. It replaces Energy Ball, being far better by relying on the more powerful physical attack stat.

The rest of the trip is uneventful, other than a Glaceon using Mirror Coat to catch Mongolia off guard, this trip also seems a lot shorter than it usually is… Perhaps because my team is a powerful, or maybe it's just because I played through the Alola games so much…

Regardless, it's time for another trial.

But not before an event before then.

Most of my team has reached level 60.

Which means it's time for the last teams switch.

And that is replacing Valkyrie with Blacephalon. The two have the same Type, although Valkyrie is slow and focuses mainly on physical moves. In addition, she still lacks power on occasions, and doesn't have the best defenses. Blacephalon has even weaker defenses, but can use both physical and special attacks effectively. Additionally, it is fast, and its Ability Beast Boost allows it to increase its stats after defeating an opponent. With all this, Blacephalon has a high chance of striking first and defeating a foe before said foe can take advantage of its weaknesses. Therefore, it now goes on my team.

This Blacephalon is called Explode, and for the purposes of this run, he is male (genderless in-game). Explode immediately gets the Fire Type Z Crystal, although thanks to sheer power I'm not sure how much he will be needing it. In addition to already knowing Fire Blast and Shadow Ball, Explode also learns Hidden Power and Psychic. I will use the walk back to test out what the Hidden Power is, and more users of Psychic is always a good thing.

With that, it's time to leave the Pokémon Center and begin the return trek.

Thankfully, it's not as bad as originally thought. After a single wild battle with a Granbull, Explode is confirmed to have Hidden Power Dragon. A useful move for what's coming up next, and a solid neutral attack against a lot of different Types. Overall, teaching it was a good choice. The walk back is fairly short, as I was able to move a stone into a hole before I left. This stone creates a pathway allows me to quickly return to the exit of the cave once I'm near the entrance.

I rapidly use it and head to the next place.

The trial site awaits.

This trial is Dragon Type, and has no captain guarding it. There is still a slate explaining what to do, and it's simply a straight walk through a cave while battling the dragons along the way. The site appears quite old, and it also appears there hasn't been a captain for a long time. As a result, the Pokémon have gone wild, even if they don't do anything different to the player in the game… Unlike other areas, there aren't any other Pokémon, and it's simply dragons assaulting the player at every turn… It's a little eerie, and the game even points it out… I like to think that the spirit of a former Trial Captain is haunting the place even in the present, with his spirit still lurking around because of unfinished business… Traveler uses this interpretation, and I plan to play up the creepiness for all it's worth…

But no matter what, I have to go in.

So go in I do.

Besides, I have plenty of techniques for dealing with dragons by now.

Such as Abraham's Play Rough and Z-move.

But I fear some foe still stands before me.

Kommo-o, the Totem Pokémon.

I defeated its unevolved forms before with ease, but this final form is a whole different foe. It has an aura that increases all stats, in addition to its own stats already being very high. It's Dragon and Fighting, allowing it to counter most of the weaknesses Dragon would typically have. It's weak to the Fairy Type, but holds a berry that reduces the damage of any incoming Fairy Type attack. This allows it to survive most attacks. After that, it usually calls in Steel Type Pokémon to throw the player off. These Steel Pokémon often do a good job of combating any other weaknesses as well, such as Ice. With my significant level advantage, I hope this fight will be easy. But I have no choice but to see.

So, I have Abraham use his Z-move after the foe takes out Disguise with Poison Jab.

Even with the berry, Abraham takes out the Totem in one hit.

I guess there was nothing to worry about.

There are still fearsome foes ahead, though.

Such as Dawn Wings Necrozma.

It's an unwilling fusion of Lunala and Necrozma, Psychic/Ghost Type, has high stats, and usually is a powerful foe.

Keyword, _usually._

The problem is that the foe is only at level 50, and every member of my team can hit it with super effective attacks.

It's down from two hits of Abraham's Shadow Claw, despite breaking through Disguise with Psychic.

It's played up as something deadly, but with this team, it's pathetic.

The interesting thing is that the protagonist of Traveler is not meant to meet Necrozma until much later. Additionally, outside of this run, she's not currently planned to meet the Dawn Wings form _at all._ This holds true for its counterpart, Dusk Mane. Perhaps this encounter here is just a vision of things to come, or a test of some sort. It's also noting that fusion in both canon and fan works is almost always portrayed as negative, and Necrozma's is especially so. Yet in Traveler, most cases are considered positive, being seen as a natural evolution of humanity's interactions with Pokémon, and Pokémon's interactions with each other. This is the case even though not everyone trusts the idea of fusion or even knows about it. So it will be interesting how to figure out how best to change the portrayal here. Regardless, what happens will be more climactic than the actual battle.

But even though this battle is over, there are still more to come.

But those will be for next chapter.


	9. Ascension

**Welcome back to the final chapter of Ghostly Goals! As always, I do not own Pokémon, and enjoy!**

* * *

9\. Ascension

After an action-packed chapter last time, it's time for one of the worst battles in the game, possibly the entire series.

Just how bad this battle?

It's so bad that those who do challenges where having Pokémon be defeated in battle is permanent usually have to ignore that rule in order to even get past this battle. Those who don't usually don't have enough manpower to finish the game under their ruleset otherwise. The battle is so notorious that the idea of ignoring permanent defeat rules came up as soon as players were aware this battle existed. That idea has been well known ever since. What makes this even worse is that players who play runs with permanent defeat as a rule take said rule _very_ seriously. The only other time I've ever seen players nullify that rule is during fan creations that have battles the player is not expected to win.

And if it official battle can be as bad as notoriously difficult fan creations, that puts it in a class of its own.

As for my own experiences, the only other time I fought this battle was with a regular team that was well-balanced and I had been keeping up with the levels and battles. I only won because of sheer luck, and only felt frustration when I won, because of the idea of doing what the game expected the player to do and still only winning from sheer luck rubbed off on me as bad game design. Granted I didn't use the Experience Share Pokémon isn't really known for notoriously difficult battles that rely on luck in most cases (exceptions being in postgame battle areas, and even then there's only really one that's particularly infamous for it), so this battle just seems like it comes out of nowhere even if the player is aware it's coming up.

Even though I have a few more advantages this time, I'm not looking forward to it.

But go forward I must.

So it's time to enter something else, the Ultra Warp Ride.

It's one of the most beautiful and enjoyable parts of the game, and something that I could easily spend hours on. Admittedly, I probably did when I first got access to it, as did a lot of other players. Just seeing it now makes me want to go back… There were so many elusive Pokémon I never managed to get… Anyway, my only gripe is that the first time through uses motion controls and the player cannot change that no matter what. From the second time onwards, the player is able to change the controls to the 3DS'S controller stick. Doing so is much easier, but the way to switch is located in a remote area and there's no indication that it is there at all. Plus, it still makes my hands hurt if I do it for too long…

But the records are great. In addition to advancing the story, mastering Ultra Warp Ride allows me to get rare Pokémon that mostly can be found nowhere else. Additionally, there's a high chance of prized shiny Pokémon, although I've yet to encounter one. The regular Pokémon here are all level 60, which makes them good for training if the player has not used the Experience Share by this point. Since I have, and I don't need to capture anywhere Pokémon, I won't be using them. But it's still a great place to train up.

What also makes this interesting is that the protagonist of the Traveler series does not use Ultra Warp Ride until much later. And it has a much different history, in addition to having a lot more negative implications due to the protagonist's past. So I'm not sure what I will do with this part here. Perhaps it's yet another test or vision, or simply omitted. Regardless, I have to use it now. I messed up the first time thanks to the motion controls, but the second time, I switch the motion controls to the regular controller. As a result, I am successful on my second try.

And that I enter it.

Ultra Megalopolis.

A place that looks like it belongs more in a work of horror than a Pokémon game.

And probably one of the most eerie places ever in the entire series.

This is another place the protagonist of Traveler visits at one point, but it's much later. In addition, and as a completely different meaning and purpose than it does canonically. And unlike the methods used to get here, the battle and experience are real, so I cannot skip it. Whatever memories the protagonist does have of the battle also come up later in the trial, and play a role after the trial. So this could very well be another vision that the protagonist has overcome. There are at least two versions of this place where it plays a role in Traveler, and countless other worlds that exist where it could have played a role. So the protagonist could have a vision of the darker version that's visited second, and then learn about another version that's vital to the back story and sets most of the events in the entire series in motion. This version also is the motivation behind several characters, including the protagonist herself to some extent. So she may even visit that version, but it still would be much later than now.

Regardless, I have to head up.

And there I meet the battle against what I've been dreading.

Ultra Necrozma is Psychic/Dragon, two very good Types. It's got moves to match, including ones that will cover its weaknesses. Furthermore, Ultra Necrozma has the highest stats of any known Pokémon at the time of this writing. In this battle, it also exudes an aura that makes its stats go even higher. To top things off, it has an Ability that increases the damage of moves significantly if the opponent is weak to them. So anything that is unlucky enough to fit those criteria will be destroyed. Finally, Ultra Necrozma is at a higher level than anything the player has at this point, assuming they haven't done a lot of extra training and used the Experience Share throughout.

So all of this makes it even more fearsome.

Unfortunately, I have to fight it anyway.

So what am I to do?

I lead with Abraham, since his Typing allows him to do super effective damage to both of the opponent's Types. Additionally, due to using the Experience Share, I am on Necrozma's level. However, I still have to be careful, as Necrozma knows a move called Smart Strike. This is a Steel Type move that can super effectively damage fairies, and will always hit no matter what. Abraham can take one hit via Disguise, but a second one will destroy him. And thanks to its already high stats and the boosts, Necrozma is likely faster than Abraham. So I need extra power right away, without taking a turn to increase my stats. I go straight for Abraham's Z-move, hoping to do as much damage as I can.

This proves to be the case, as Necrozma moves first and immediately goes for Smart Strike. Abraham still gets in his attack, knocking Necrozma down to about half its health. He is immediately defeated by Smart Strike after that, though. Merry is next, said she can resist Psychic attacks. She also has the move Shadow Sneak, allowing her to strike first if things grow dire. Since I don't think Shadow Sneak will defeat the opponent in one strike, I go for Shadow Ball instead. Merry is almost taken down by Dragon Pulse, but manages to use Shadow Ball to defeat Necrozma. I didn't bother reviving Abraham in this fight, so he doesn't get the experience that everyone else does. But since I am approaching the level cap, it doesn't really matter, and I can probably find a Rare Candy later on to even things out.

Still, that was much easier than my last run, but only because I used the Experience Share and did extra training. And if I wasn't having trouble back in Aether, I wouldn't have done either of those things… It still strikes me as bad game design, forcing the player to use those mechanics in a non-optional battle, just to stand enough of a chance to reasonably progress… There's also no way to prepare if they didn't plan ahead… At least other battles before this were optional, but this one is just a bit ridiculous…

Anyway, with that said and done, I get a Pokémon I can't use. Poipole, a Poison Type Ultra Beast, and a force to be reckoned with once it evolves. Even though I can use it here, it still has a purpose elsewhere.

And that is in my Living Dex.

A Living Dex is a completion challenge where players must have one copy of every Pokémon in existence, in numerical order. I have also chosen to count different forms that may function like different Pokémon, such as extra Pokémon to represent Mega Evolutions and Alolan variants. The Living Dex takes up a lot of space, so it's currently on the online service called the Pokémon Bank. Once a new online service opens up for future games, it will migrate there as well. But as of now, Poipole is one of the few Pokémon not in the Living Dex. Although I did obtain one last run, I also used it in my regular party, so I did not want to put it in the Dex. Luckily, my new one doesn't have this restriction, so I send it up to the Pokémon Bank immediately.

Speaking of restrictions, there's a bit of a story restriction here. The protagonist of the Traveler series is not supposed to meet Necrozma until much later. Where and when she does meet it is also crucial to the series plot overall. However, prior experience with Necrozma is also vital to the plot and ties into something later on. So maybe this will be another vision that she sees, but not entirely, with her battle experience and memories being real.

Regardless, the fight is finally over, and I can move onto the last trial the island has.

But only after a break.

After a break, I'm back during about the middle of the day real-time. With Necromza dealt with, my next order of business is Mina's trial. Mina's trial involves more battling than others, as it involves finding and fighting Trial Captains I have met previously. These Trial Captains are scattered all over the region, and upon being found and defeated, will give me a petal. Eventually bringing all the petals to Mina will summon the Totem, and start the final battle. The trial is good because it's interesting and a challenge, but bad because the constant battling means that I have to be wary of hitting the level cap. At least I'm getting close to having that increased.

The first battle the trial is Mina herself. Luckily, she's not much of a challenge. I sent out Explode against her Pokémon. Mawile uses Sucker Punch, taking out half of Explode's HP. A single Fire Blast defeats it, activating Beast Boost. Beast Boost will always raise Special Attack, making Explode even more of an offensive threat. I defeat Granbull with an Inferno Overdrive for good measure. The last Pokémon, Ribombee, nearly defeats Explode with a Psychic, but is easily put down by Fire Blast.

The next Trainer is Illmia, on Route 2. His Normal types are quickly cleaned up by Shiloh, being destroyed by Close Combat. Illmia also introduces the ability to head immediately to the next place, which I gladly do. The next opponent is Lana, and her Water Types. Sinbad and Mongolia rapidly get the job done without even taking damage. Kaiiwe is next, with his Fire Types. He actually gives me a bit of trouble, with Arcanine's Crunch and Talonflame's Brave Bird taking out Explode, after he takes out two of the opponent's Pokémon. Mongolia is nearly defeated by Talonflame's Brave Bird, but she finishes the job with Thunder.

Sophocles is next, although with Valkyrie gone, I don't have any straight counter for electricity. I just go with Shiloh for brute force. Luckily, I don't need to worry, because he doesn't battle me. I still keep Shiloh in front, because my next opponent is Nanu. Shiloh easily sweeps aside Sableye with his Z-move, and the other two with Close Combat.

With that, it's finally time to fight the last Totem, Ribombee.

Ribombee's only level 55, but it's plenty powerful. It starts with a two-stage increase to all of its stats, and uses Quiver Dance to make them rise even more. Additionally, it's holding a berry to reduce fire damage, with fire being one of its weaknesses. As a result, I lead with Explode and use Inferno Overdrive, but it only does half damage. The Totem then summons a Blissey, but thankfully that Pokémon typically doesn't do much damage. Ribombee tries to attack with Dazzling Gleam, but it doesn't do much. Another Fire Blast, and it's gone.

Blissey has high Special Defense, and uses Light Screen to make that even higher. After that, I just switch out to Shiloh, and Close Combat finishes the fight.

The last Trial Captain is defeated, but one more battle remains before my adventures on Poni come to an end.

The Grand Trial, Hapu.

Hapu uses Ground Types, which I have plenty of counters for by now. Here is hoping the battle will be quick. But that's a battle I will save for next time.

Another day comes, and with it, more battles. Perhaps I will reach the end…

But there are obstacles I must conquer first.

The beginning is Hapu, who now awaits with her Ground Type team and Grand Trial.

Thankfully, they are not all that strong. They are still around ten levels below me, and I have many advantages. Her first Pokémon, Gorlurk, sets up the move Stealth Rock, but it proves to be useless as Sinbad and Power Whip defeat it instantly. It's not like Stealth Rock does much good anyway, as the Pokémon that are weak to it are ones that I won't be using the battle. Mudsdale then falls to a Power Whip, causing Hapu to send out Flygon. Shiloh takes a bit of damage from Stealth Rock, but destroys it with Ice Punch. The final Pokémon is Gastrodon, but Power Whip makes short work of it.

With that, the final Grand Trial comes to an end, allowing me to use Pokémon up to level 80 without issue. Hopefully, this should carry me until the end of the game.

But I will need more than hope as one last challenge remains.

Victory Road, and with it, the Pokémon League.

Victory Road, as in most Pokémon games, is along a treacherous path filled with many Trainers. I must be prepared to battle a variety of those.

Starting with an old rival, Gladion.

He leads with Crobat, so Mongolia starts things off. The foe uses Acrobatics, but it doesn't do much damage as one Psychic defeats it. The next match is Explode versus Lucario. Too late I realize the foe was actually Zoroark, and Explode immediately goes down from a Dark Type Z-move. Shiloh comes the next, and I revive Explode. Shiloh takes a Night Daze in the process, but Close Combat gets the job done. Gladion sends out Silvally, and it happens to be Fire Type. Since I don't have the best defenses for fire, I just send in Mongolia. Moongeist Beam weakens the foe, but Mongolia nearly dies to Crunch. Fortunately, she survives with six HP, taking out the foe with another Moongeist Beam. The real Lucario shows its face, using Metal Claw. However, it still is no match for a revived Explode, immediately falling to the Fire Type Z move.

Embarrassingly, my 3DS started becoming low on power during this battle. I managed to plug it in just in time, but if it ran out, I would have to do the whole battle again... It's not particularly difficult, but that's not something I want to happen either…

After some healing, I'm finally allowed to traverse Victory Road. The Road to Victory begins in a snowy cavern. The Trainers here aren't anything special, and I simply use Type advantages to breeze past them.

However, something else in the crater is worthy of my attention.

Necrozma.

The Pokémon is weakened from fights before, and it's drawn to my current Z-Crystals.

That means it's ready to fight.

But the fight isn't much of one.

I just throw a Master Ball and the fight is over as soon as it starts. The reason I did this is because Necrozma, like most legendary Pokémon, has a very low chance of being caught, even under the best of conditions. The Master Ball guarantees a capture, making sure this encounter will not last any longer than it has to. With a run like this, it seems odd that I would initiate the encounter at all. I can't use Necrozma, as it is a Psychic Type, and the encounter is otherwise completely optional.

But completing the encounter, regardless of the results, unlocks something that I _can_ use. It's also the last team upgrade in the entire run.

And that is an item that allows Mongolia to change forms. Specifically, if one of her species and a Necromza are in the party together, I can use the item to fuse them together. The new Pokémon then becomes a more powerful form of Necrozma, giving said Pokémon the Ghost Type, and allowing me to use it. It's also an upgrade for Mongolia as well, as it gives her access to all of Necromza's potential moves. In a regular run, Lunala can be captured where Cosmog was first found at the beginning of the game, and it's much easier. As a result, I could've initiated the transformation on my own. However, I decided not to because I wanted to use Lunala earlier and wanted to get the traded experience boost. Additionally, encountering the other legendary Pokémon doesn't give the player anything extra if they already have said Pokémon, so I skipped it entirely.

But there is one last thing to do before I initiate the transformation.

And that is throw my new Pokémon on to the Bank.

The reason is that all my Pokémon have the traded Pokémon on experience boost, and I need the new form of Necrozma to have that boost if it is to keep up. Luckily, I have a second one from Ultra Sun, and I use the Bank again to make the exchange. It's important that I have one from this game rather than other ones, because Necrozma is level 75 in those games. Thus, it would be far more powerful than anything else I had, destroy the game with an unfair advantage, and easily break my current level cap. The ones in the Ultra games come at level 65, so there is no such issue. This Necrozma's name is Charge, and he is considered male.

However, he'll be referred to a little bit differently because of how Traveler handles fusions and forms. The game simply uses all of Necrozma's data, combines two Pokémon into one, and explicitly says that Necrozma is in complete control. In Traveler, fusion typically involves two separate souls and individuals sharing a body. Either one can be in complete control, both can operate different aspects of body and mind, or they can both operate everything simultaneously. Since the game states that Lunala no longer has a will of its own, I thought it would be interesting if it was the one in complete control here.

So Charge lets Mongolia use his power as she wants, she simply becomes a stronger version of herself upon him giving her the power, and the story has Mongolia still in the party and acting as usual. This is even though everything is based off of Charge's stats in the game. Additionally, Charge probably won't be referred to by his name at all because he's not meant to be captured by anyone in the story at this time. Currently, the protagonist of Traveler is not currently planned to encounter the upgraded form of Lunala at all other than this run and flashbacks to it. So it's not known what will happen with it after that, even if it does play a role in the story overall.

Regardless, it's time to activate the fusion, and continue on with the game.

Charge has been sent to my boxes, which means that I have to head out of Victory Road so I can go and get it.

Once I do, I immediately give him the Amulet Coin and fuse him with Mongolia. Mongolia's new form knows the powerful move Photon Geyser in addition to Psychic and Moongeist Beam. She can't learn Thunder in this form, but has Power Gem, a Rock Type move that is weaker but more reliable.

With Mongolia leading the party, I make my way back up Victory Road. I'm quickly reminded of her stronger stats and how useful Rock is as an offensive type. The way I'm reminded of that is Power Gem taking out many foes, and much more reliably than Thunder. Mongolia is not invincible, however, as she's unexpectedly taken down by a Bisharp's Night Slash in a double battle. Shiloh is also frozen by a Milotic's Blizzard, but that's easily healed.

After a short walk, I'm finally here.

The gates of the Pokémon League, and where this run comes to its end. Fittingly, it's the toughest challenge in the run. But it's also a challenge that will have to wait for another day. It's getting late, and I can't be anything less than rested for the end.

So a new day has come. Or rather, a new late night after a day of bowling.

And with that, comes the end of almost every Trainer's journey.

The Pokémon League, and the conquest of it.

But doing this requires some preparation.

First, I buy healing items at the Pokémon Center mart. I don't really need to worry about money after this, because this is the run's end. And even with my level advantage, I want to make sure I am as prepared as possible. I still have about half my money left, just in case and for something else I will be doing offscreen, but I doubt I will need it. I also put Explode up front, to have the best advantage against the first photo I'm facing.

After that, I enter the League.

And immediately meet a familiar face.

The PC inventor, Monalyne.

He's not just a whiz at that computers, but also an exceptionally powerful Steel Type Trainer.

And he's looking to bring forth a challenge.

But I have a solution for that.

Explode and his endless flames.

Monalye opens up with a Klefki, but Explode takes it out in a single Fire Blast. However, he is paralyzed by Thunder Wave, causing me to switch to Sinbad when Dugtrio comes out. I rapidly heal up Explode, yet switch back whenever I realize Dugtrio wants to use Sucker Punch. Shiloh enters the field, taking out before it can land a successful strike. Explode squares off against Metagross, destroying it with Shadow Ball. Bisharp successfully avenges its fallen comrade via Night Slash after Explode misses a Fire Blast. Shiloh gets his own revenge by defeating Bisharp with Close Combat, but not before Explode is revived, and Shiloh is hit with Iron Head. Magnezone is the last, and it takes a team effort. Shiloh uses Close Combat, and would've defeated the foe if not for Sturdy. However, he gets defeated instead. Sinbad comes in, as Shiloh is revived. Magnezone is healed as and the next turn, Sinbad uses Brick Break. However, it doesn't do too much damage, and Flash Cannon does quite a lot. So Mongolia charges into battle, easily soaking up a Flash Cannon and winning the match with Moongeist Beam.

So a decent challenge, even though I still won.

There is for more battles to go, and they could be just as difficult.

Such is another familiar face.

Olivia.

She's strengthened her Pokémon, but hopefully, with my fortified team, she won't be as ferocious as before.

Besides, I have one answer to her.

Shiloh.

Shiloh can do a ton of damage to almost every Pokémon she has, and most of it super effective.

The first demonstration is against Armaldo. Shiloh doesn't have a super effective move against it, but one hit from his Z-move and the foe is gone. Close Combat takes out Cradily, and throws Probopass into Sturdy range. It doesn't even get to attack as Olivia heals, uses Thunder Wave, Shiloh heals, and she wastes her turn using Sandstorm. Gigalith survives a hit, but is severely weakened. Shiloh is also weakened by Bulldoze, but switching out to Sinbad solves that issue as Olivia heals. Her Pokémon uses Bulldoze but it does little damage in comparison to a Power Whip. A second one takes it out, leaving Lycanroc as the last. A Close Combat ends the battle before it even starts.

So Shiloh destroyed Olivia's ferocity, but there is still plenty more here.

And the most fearsome opponent is also the most innocent looking.

Acerola.

She uses Ghost Types, and unlike the last time she was encountered, the game now expects me to have every strategy up my sleeve. As a result, I can't trick it with one that I shouldn't have. I will have to play carefully if I want to succeed.

But I don't need to worry about careful plays at all.

In fact, it's not even worth going over my opponent's team.

Mainly because said opponent can't touch me.

Or rather, can't touch Explode. Explode simply start taking out Pokémon with Shadow Ball and his impressive offensive stats. Once that happens, Beast Boost makes his only hit harder. At that point, there's nothing Acerola can do. Her desperate Frosslass tries to deal damage with Confuse Ray, but it only fails. The battle is over in mere minutes. Interestingly, Blacepheon isn't meant to be acquired until the main game is cleared, but the game doesn't realize the rules of my challenge allow me to have it long before that. So perhaps I simply used another strategy the game doesn't expect me to have…

Regardless, it's on to my second to last opponent, Kahili. She uses Flying Types, which I don't have any direct counter to. Perhaps I will actually have to be careful.

Her first Pokémon, Braviary, seems to prove this point, as it does a lot of damage to Mongolia with Brave Bird. Power Gem is enough to knock it out, however. Hawlucha is next, and the fight appears to be easy. I'm quickly proven wrong as it nearly takes out Mongolia with Throat Chop. She survives with just enough HP to defeat it with Psychic. However, it's too risky to leave her in against the next foe, Mandibuzz. So Shiloh takes the field instead.

Using Shiloh was risky, but the risk pays off. He freezes the foe solid with Ice Punch, heading for the kill with another one. However, Mandibuzz survives to use the move Flatter, and I switch to Abraham as my opponent heals. A single Z-move finishes things, but the battle is not over yet. The next Pokémon is Toucannon, and I leave Abraham in. Abraham absorbs a Screech, and I use the time to revive Mongolia. I switch her in, taking a Beak Blast. The foe is defeated on the next turn with Power Gem. Kahili's final Pokémon is the fire version of Oriocorio. Unfortunately for it, Rock moves utterly destroy it, and it rarely does any damaging for the battle ends.

The Elite Four have been taken down. And one last foe stands before me before the run's final words. Right now, the foe is sleep, so now I shall conquer it.

But I will be back to take care of the enemies in the waking world.

Within time, I have kept my promise and return to fight the final enemy of the run.

It's one that has been watching my progress since the beginning of the game, one that could know my every strength and weakness.

And that person is Hau.

He leads with Alolan Raichu, so I counter with Explode to try and get an early start. His Thunderbolt does a lot of damage, but I take Raichu down with Shadow Ball. Tauros is next, and I try to launch and Inferno Overdrive. Unfortunately, I'm not fast enough, and Explode loses the fight. Shiloh comes in, promptly defeating the foe with Close Combat. Sinbad squares off against Primarina, using Quick Claw to get off a Power Whip before Primarina can even attack. Mongolia faces Flareon, getting hit by Baby Doll Eyes. It doesn't do anything as Mongolia hits back with Power Gem. Hau heals, and Mongolia hits again. He heals for a second time, but I revive Explode. Flareon finally attacks back with Flare Blitz, but that leaves it weak enough for Power Gem to take it out. Shiloh and Noivern go against each other, but Ice Punch decides the match. Crabominable is the final foe, but doesn't stand a chance against a Close Combat.

And with that, the run is completely finished.

For the most part.

The final version exclusive can be captured only after the main game is been clear. Since this is my first time clearing Ultra Moon, I'm going to get it now. However, that Pokémon is not relevant to this run, will automatically be transferred, and therefore will not be recorded in it. I will mention that Pokémon in other runs, for those are interested, however.

So now is the time for some closing thoughts.

Overall, this run was started on a whim when I wanted to expand and the backstory of what would become Traveler's protagonist. Originally, I also didn't think I could complete this run, seeing as I had several failed monotype runs in the past, and the story changed over time. However, by taking advantage of all the mechanics I had, I was able to succeed. It also helped that there was a series attached to it rather than a standalone run with no story. It gave me extra motivation to finish it, because I realize the series wouldn't be complete without it. The run was also interesting, allowing me to use Pokémon and strategies I wouldn't have or be able to use otherwise.

As for the game itself, I still feel like the story could've been much better and there was some wasted potential in several areas. However, I will save that for when a run focuses on all aspects of the game as opposed to a challenge run alone, and some of my previous works already mention more of these issues. However, it was much more enjoyable just focusing on gameplay and what strategies I could get from it. It made me realize that the gameplay, and even some parts of the story, is where the Alola games really shine. With only focusing on those parts, I was able to appreciate the game a lot more. It is also made me appreciate it for what it was, an experiment. Like most experiments, some parts did well and others didn't. However, it was pretty ambitious for the series, and that made it interesting in a lot of aspects. It also makes me interested to see if Pokémon will continue to experiment like this game did, or if it will just return to old formulas. Regardless, I can't wait to play what comes next.

Speaking of what comes next, there's the matter what happens to the Pokémon that participated in this run. For the Pokémon that were on the regular team for extended periods of time and for those that otherwise made it the end, they will return to the Bank, and remain in storage in whatever capacity is available. For those that were not used in this run, they will be deleted along with the file upon starting a new one. Unfortunately, I don't have the space to store a bunch of Pokémon that are never going to be used, and all of them are common enough that I have them already. So there's no harm in forever losing them.

I may as well mention my final stats for the team that did make it to the end. First up is Mongolia, a Lunala turned Dawn Wings Necrozma. In the game, she is genderless despite being female in the story. Furthermore, she is known as Charge in the game upon changing form. She is level 69, holding the Amulet Coin, and knows the moves Moongeist Beam, Power Gem, Psychic, and Photon Geyser. As a Lunala, she also knows the moves Thunder and Night Daze.

Next is Shiloh, going unnamed in the game. He is male in the story but genderless in the game. He is level 69, and holding his species Z-Crystal. Shiloh knows the moves Spectral Thief, Close Combat, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch.

Merry is a female Spiritomb, knowing the moves Shadow Ball, Shadow Sneak, Psychic, and Dark Pulse. She holds the item Scope Lens. Next is Abraham, a male Mimikyu holding his species Z-Crystal. He knows Play Rough, Shadow Claw, Leech Life, and Swords Dance.

Sinbad is another, being genderless in the game, but male in the story. He knows Brick Break, Anchor Shot, Power Whip, and Phantom Force. His item is the Quick Claw. Finally, there's Explode the Blacepheon. He is genderless in the game, but male in the story. He knows the moves Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, Hidden Power (Dragon), and Psychic. He holds the Fire Type Z Crystal.

Storyline wise, after the trial ends, the party each goes their separate ways. This includes Necrozma, the Pokémon that weren't used during the run, and the Rotom powering the Pokedex. Other than Necrozma returning to life as a wild Pokémon and Shiloh remaining with the protagonist, I have no idea where each of the Pokémon will go. Their history will be written out when the story itself comes into being.

But for now I will use this log to fondly remember my journey, and the fact that I reached my ghostly goal.


End file.
